In the courtyards of Balliol….

Ffolkes,

“What UNIVERSE is this, please??”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

winter sailing

Winter on San Francisco Bay….

Hajime…. Today’s Pearl is yet another truncated version, for the simple reason I don’t have time to put it all the way together the way I prefer. I make no excuses for it; I’m once again the designated babysitter for my granddaughter for the day. Simple excited anticipation prevented much of what you won’t see today, and may be considered no great loss. Believe me, I’m not sweating over it. Yesterday was a good day; got to talk to a friend halfway across the world via Skype, which always gives the geek in me a thrill, quite aside from the pleasure of talking with a like mind…. the glow of inner joy kept me going all afternoon.

Well, that’s all the chatty conversation I’ve got today; I’m gearing up for the physical effort I know is coming; my granddaughter, at two, is a bundle of energy, which my aged body must strain to keep up with. Fortunately, I’ve done this before, & know it’s just a matter of using my head & being mindful, not hard to do with a two-year-old’s mind to enjoy. It’s such a joy to watch it learn to learn…. and soak up perceptions like an ocean sponge. Since I only have what you see below, I suppose I should get to it, & figure out how to get started on a Pearl for tomorrow…. Ah, well, it’s all grist for the mill, right?

I found a new technique for getting this intro done, too. Wanna see it work? Watch….

Shall we Pearl?

“Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurb’d steed,
Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.”

~~ Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, “The Maid of Orleans” ~~

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Conclusions are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader….

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“Everything that irritates us about others
can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

~~ Carl Gustav Jung ~~

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“If you regard discomfort as a normal condition
you are not likely to be troubled by want.”

~~ Ieyasu’s maxims ~~

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“If our behavior is strict, we do not need fun!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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“Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered,
“To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi ~~

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“We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure
without being more sensitive to pain.”

~~ Alan Watts ~~

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“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. iv ~~

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Well, there you have it, in its entirety. I’ll offer no complaints, nor any encouragement; only empathy is available, at a reasonable fee. Probably, the best idea, for all of us, is for me to just say, see ya, ffolkes. I’ll be back when I’ve got this back under some sort of control; shouldn’t take long…. Be well, be strange, be alert….. All are good to be….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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Bitter whimsy…

Ffolkes,

“Rotten wood cannot be carved.”

~~ Confucius ~~

~~ Analects, Book 5, Ch. 9 ~~

homebase

gigoid’s hideaway….

Hajime…. Bitter whimsy, indeed, my friends. It’s been at least three days since I last sat to compose a Pearl, though I’ve spent a little time collecting pearls to use. Most of my time, sadly, has been spent feuding with the powers that be, in the guise of banks, and robotic zombies in service to soulless corporations. As usual, the conflicts in which I’ve been compelled to engage have ended in what can best be called a draw; I get what I need, the myrmidons get confused, and we both feel a bit unsettled afterward. Mostly, it works, though there seems to be little point to any of it.

In fact, if you consider our opening lines from Confucius (the real one, not the one with the weird fake accent everyone uses… this is from the books he actually wrote, back in the days of Lao Tzu and the emperors of various dynasties in China…), taken together with the intro closing quote from Bert Russell, it gives the flavor of how my time out in the BBR has gone, for the most part. Relatively productive in terms of task completion, but, with the concomitant angst and stress from having to deal with mundanes, myrmidons, zombies, and simple idiots, to go along with the more rarely encountered true human, those who are able to display rational behavior, and a human ability to display empathy toward others.

I miss the conversations involved in blogging; in the past six or so years, I’ve met some of the best ffolkes I’ve ever known; several have become very good friends, and I am reluctant to completely give up the time I spend connecting with them. But, I am finding, also, I am less filled with the background of tension that comes from having to soak up so much bad juju, which is hard to avoid if one follows current events. There are literally dozens of issues being played out in the world today, all of which are relatively critical in nature; the failure to meet some of the challenges necessary to resolve those issues will have serious effects on the entire world, including our own species, effects which conceivably lead to our demise as a species. It ain’t pretty, ffolkes; humanity has been ignoring the basic rules of reality for a long time, hoping against hope the delusions/illusions upon which we have based our existence are powerful enough to withstand conflict with the real world. I’m unhappy to report, they aren’t….

But, that’s a rant for another time, yes? Yes. For now, I’m going to once again slough it all onto a back burner, & throw together a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, just because I can, and, probably should, given the alternative, which none of us should contemplate without a better handle on things…. For now…

Shall we Pearl?

“In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice,
and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper,
and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

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mikegordon__leo_kottke

Image from LIVEmusicblog.com via Google Images

Leo Kottke has been a legendary performer on the 12-string guitar for most of my life; I first saw him in concert in my first year at UC Berkeley, where he blew me, and the rest of the audience, right out of our shoes. Mike Gordon is much younger, but, no less a phenomenon, as a studio bassist, and for the popular rock band, Phish, with Trey Anastasio complementing his bass licks on lead guitar with his improvisational genius. Leo and Mike got together prior to Phish, to play in concert, also making a number of albums treasured by aficionados of great improvisational music…. Enjoy, ffolkes; these are two of the best, having fun together….

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Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon Live

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Comedy_Tragedy

Adjectives of Quality ~~ Bloody Friday

A baleful lump of ironic introspection
sits upon my shoulder today
leaving traces of fey reflection
with a smattering of true dismay.

Resistance may be futile, many have said,
belief didn’t necessarily follow.
Abnegation of fear marks all bills paid,
leaving such empty threats hollow.

Symbolic courage never sleeps so deeply
as when delusion holds sway.
Bartered virtue, sold far too cheaply,
stands in shame, until honor fades away.

Too many culprits exist to count just one;
all of us bear obvious blame.
Evil is as evil does, only, when it’s done,
it begins again, all same-same.

Nobody seems to care enough to deny the lies.
Ignorant fear rules humanity’s masses.
When evil passes unremarked, innocence dies;
silence equals guilt, leaving only hope’s ashes.

Reality screams; tales of terror unfold,
flames fanned with purposeful malice,
insidious dangers hide beneath atrocity untold
as Gaia weeps into an empty chalice.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/3/2015

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Odd, but, true….

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“Everything can be filed under “miscellaneous”.”

~~ Dilbert, Scott Adams ~~

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“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth:
(1) not going all the way; and
(2) not starting.”

~~ Buddha ~~

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“Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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“The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves
as the sole cause of all our adversities.

~~ Sophocles ~~

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“As I look at your image,
I see only the light which was not absorbed.”

~~ Mark Middleton ~~

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“It will not out of the flesh that is bred in the bone.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. viii~~

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“What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?”

~~ Ursula K. LeGuin ~~

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‘Tis now 0510, which means this process has done its job admirably; I’m still relatively sane, and nobody died in my vicinity, whether due to my action, or inaction. Plus, compared to the general run of mundanes, I’m still sane, and as free as anyone in this sad old world can be. Rather than entertain any opinions of a different nature, I’ll just ease my way off screen, & get on with the re-ordering of my personal reality. It’s a tough job, but, who else will do it, if I don’t? No one. Since that remains the case, I’ll see y’all later; the exact date remains, at this point, a mystery, but, don’t fret, it won’t be too long… It seems to keep pulling at me…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3

À bientôt, mon cherí….

A direct correlation to oblique references….

Ffolkes,

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve
going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head.”

~~ Pooh in Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne ~~

dublin-street

Outside Trinity College Gate, Dublin, Ireland

Hajime…. Abandoning all hope of dreaming, the old man arises, muttering, to stumble forth, falling into routine with a sigh of relief, which lasts until realizing ’tis, once more, shy of 3 AM. Accustomed to the darkness, he finds his way to the computer, where he sits, to begin another day, in search of the remaining tatters of sanity to be found in the darker corners of the mind.

Then, of course, he realized what a stupid idea that was, so, he started over. Good morrow, ffolkes. And how are y’all? Good. As you can tell by now, my mind is a pretty blank slate…. I’m pretty sure I’m also out of chalk with which to write on it. But, here I am anyway, typing away just as if I had some clue as to what to put here. I could go with some nonsense, or try to salvage the almost clever opening lines, but, it all seems a bit superfluous, when I realize I’m already done, & none of this will make any difference, other than how I feel about it… That, of course, isn’t relevant, either, but, we’ll pretend it is, just to finish off this paragraph with a touch of certainty, an article thus far absent.

How’s that? I think it’s going to have to do for today; keeping at this, when there’s nothing in there to pull out, would be even more useless a pastime than even we can pull off with any aplomb. (Another hard-to-find article around here…) Rather than continue to torment y’all, and myself, I think I’ll just get on with it, so we can get this posted by the time I’ve set for a deadline. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Now, if only I could lay claim to having a clue as to where to go, we’d be all set. Since I can’t in good conscience do so, I’ll do this instead, providing proof of the pudding, as so eloquently stated by Mssr. Heywood, just below….

Shall we Pearl?

“Better is halfe a lofe than no bread.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) ~ Proverbes, Part i, Chap. xi ~~

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ana-myspace

Ana Popovic

Image from myspace.com via Google Images

A friend sent me a video of this young artist yesterday, after listening to the Bonnie Raitt video I used. Needless to say, I’m impressed, and have a new crush… Enjoy, ffolkes, this woman can play….

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Ana Popovic Live

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Comedy_Tragedy

Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Pungently obscure, but, tasty….

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“How many Zen masters does it take to change a light bulb?”

“A tree in a golden forest.”

~~ Sardonic Bee ~~

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“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.”

~~ Rafael Sabatini ~~

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“A clown is a clown and will always be a clown.”

~~ Babbaluche the cobbler ~~

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“There are some things that are so serious that you have to laugh at them.”

~~ Niels Bohr ~~

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“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.”

~~ Edith Wharton ~~

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“Once you can accept the universe
as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something,
wearing stripes with plaid is easy.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

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“A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a Unicorn.”

~~ Hacker proverb ~~

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The only thing about which we may feel any sort of accomplishment today is to realize it’s done. Rather than beat this particular horse any more, now it’s dead, I’ll just take my leave, with all the dignity I can muster. I will, with some trepidation, but, much hope, try this again, maybe even tomorrow. Wish me luck, ffolkes; I’ve a feeling I’ll need it this time….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Brave Ulysses told no tales….

Ffolkes,

“Very often, meaning lies in the spaces between the words, not in the words themselves.”

~~ Callan Williams ~~

bay-sunset

Nearing sunset over Mt. Tamalpais….

Hajime…. So, the first beginning was a wash. So was the second, and the third, both becoming subsumed in temporary configurations into cat hammock mode. Leelu has finally gotten peckish, adjourning to nom at her food station, & I’m finally free to finish today’s effort. She often figures, if I’m up early, & not yelling at her for waking me up, I must want to hold her for a while. Cats….

Good morrow, ffolkes. It’s another fine day in Paradox, er, Paradise, and all is well with the world. Well, okay, it’s not, but, right here in this little corner of it, we’re pretending it is. Otherwise, I’d have to rant, which would detract from the one I’m working on for later. To keep us from falling directly into some sort of obligatory condescension, let’s try some nonsense….

Never mind. I couldn’t come up with any, which is generally a sign of some sort of internal problem with the gyros; balance is key when spewing nonsense, lest one fall into sheer obtuseness, ignoring the dictates of humorous self-denigration, often becoming more than merely bozoid, zooming straight to idiocy. We wouldn’t care for that, would we? No, we wouldn’t. Not that we care much for this, but, hey, it’s better than that, right? No? Well, then, I don’t know what we’ll do, if all our options are unacceptable. I guess that’s life in the blogosphere…. Tawdry, with a side of persimmons…..

Okay, you’re probably right. I’ve gone far enough off the rails we’re losing track of basic courtesy. Not to mention basic relevance, or the minimalist approach to literary elegance, which has served us so well in the past. As none of it seems to be working for me today, I’m going on, even if I have to do it without y’all in tow. This intro has been such a pain to produce, I’m not sure I care…. but, the contract calls for caring, and we don’t renege on contracts. Not even if written on toilet paper, like this one.

Now I’ve done it. That last line, without a doubt, will cost me someday, I’m sure. But, to keep with our basic theme today, we’ll pretend it was never a part of this, at all. In fact, I’m now finished attempting to find any sort of coherence; don’t like beating my head against walls. Now, if I could only think of some method of getting us out of here…. Oh, right. Okay….

Shall we Pearl?….

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

~~ Donna Twitchell Roberts ~~

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fiddler celtic woman mairead nezbitt

Image from ‘Celtic Woman’ via Google Images

Yesterday, a friend commented on the Celtic music I included, noting it became tedious after a time. I mentioned the same reaction in myself, but, also related my tolerance for such music was made more amenable by being able to watch this woman’s sheer joy in playing it…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do… I’ve included a playlist, with a number of pieces featuring her, but, also including a number of other fine cuts from different shows by the River Dance group…. Abondanza!….

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Máiréad Nesbitt

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“Universe: All-purpose poem.”

~~ Ray Hand ~~

Comedy_Tragedy

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.

It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid, tongue firmly in cheek on 3/13/2013 ~~

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Esoterica….

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“Enough is as good as a feast.”

~~ John Heywood — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. xi ~~

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“Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines,
but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”

~~ Buddha~~

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“Dear friend, all theory is gray,
And green the golden tree of life.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust~~

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“It is impossible to design a system so perfect that no one needs to be good.”

~~ T. S. Eliot~~

“To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.”

~~ Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”~~

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“Love not what you are, but what you may become.”

~~ Miguel de Cervantes ~~

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“Always go to the bathroom when you have a chance.”

~~ King George V ~~

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Once more, it’s done. I won’t trouble you with any declarations as to quality; my daddy didn’t raise no fools. He did, however, teach us to cut our losses when necessary; it’s necessary now. To fulfill his teaching, I declare this Pearl complete, as is, no ups, no extras. I’ll also warn y’all…. I intend to try again tomorrow. So far, nothing seems to keep me from doing just that, regardless of the consequences. So be it. See y’all then, given a fair wind and a rising tide….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 2780

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fill in with plastic adobe….

Ffolkes,

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.”

~~ Voltaire ~~

winter blooms

Winter Blooms


Hajime….. I’ll need to proceed with some caution this morning, I think; I feel a certain looseness, an instability, and could conceivably turn introspective at the slightest provocation. I’ll try to save it for the ranting section, but, sometimes, it just gets away from me, y’know? Since I managed to notice it before it hit me too hard, we do stand an even chance of getting through this without getting maudlin, or, fate forfend, sentimental. Makes me shiver to think of it… Brrr….

Of course, such an unstable portion of my soul can also lead to severe outbreaks of nonsense and/or blather, which, as you see, is showing signs of some leakage into this missive. Uh oh. Though I AM up a bit early, I don’t think we can afford to allow too much blather, or we’ll never get out of the intro. It’s already threatening to burgeon into more than bargained for, so, I should probably start to think about hitting the road for the oyster beds, soon. Better soon than never, right? Right…. Okay, let’s see what’s in this drawer over here….

Oh, look! I haven’t seen this one before…. I wonder what it does…. I know, I’ll just push this butt…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”

~~ Les Brown ~~


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1974 bluegrass

    Norman Blake, Doc Watson, & Jerry Garcia, among many other famous bluegrass players of the day, performed at the Bluegrass Festival in Marin in the year 1974, turning in performances which became legendary…. I found it on YT, and have included here today for your listening pleasure…. Enjoy!….


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Marin Bluegrass Festival
1974

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Plato-Aristotle

The World Is Too Much With Us: Late And Soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
 
~~ William Wordsworth ~~


Y’all are, in some cases, probably scratching your head in puzzlement, wondering why a poem from Wordsworth would be, in the first instance, at the top of a section generally devoted to ranting, or, at minimum, examination of an idea of some sort. (That’s a clue, by the way….) In the second instance, you may wonder why it is used in conjunction with a picture of Plato and Aristotle, those prototypical philosophers. For those who are puzzled, relax, I’m gonna tell you. For those who have become used to our oddness, well, you’ve already girded your grid for a big one….

Let’s begin with the first lines, which, oddly enough, contain the words which prompted this treatise. “Getting and spending we lay waste our powers; little we see in Nature that is ours. We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” To my way of thinking, one need not be a poet, or a scholar, to feel the truth of these words, for they hold an indictment of the majority of humanity, for the crime of refusing to be human, denying their own nature in favor of living in fear and delusion. A bit sweeping in scope, but, pretty clearly true, to my mind…..

Wordsworth uses the brevity of poetic expression to put his finger very precisely on that part of human nature which we have abrogate, to wit: our connection to Life, and the rest of the natural world. By “getting and spending” we de of alter our own perceptions to suit our feelings, has made us both powerful, and, afraid of that power…. This leads to an inner confusion, which is reflected in how we choose to deal with reality. For thousands of years, most people have chosen, in the name of expediency, and, in deference to their own inner conflict based on their fears, to embrace three delusional ideas, which have been drummed into their consciousness by unscrupulous predators from birth….

By accepting what they are told is truth, these unfortunate slaves have been easily manipulated, until we are now seeing a world rapidly approaching complete totalitarianism in government, as the few take advantage of the ignorant many, to foster the completion of their own paranoid vision of the universe, which gives them control of others, so they can feel safe. A pathetic dream, to be sure, but, all too real for comfort….

I’m growing both angry, and pedantic; I can feel both getting stronger as I think of these matters. I see little hope for our species into the next century. There are already climatic issues occurring which could conceivably end ALL life on this planet, in the next FIVE years. This sounds unreal, and, perhaps, unduly speculative, but, I can assure you, as a scientist, it is NOT speculation. Physical processes of a chemical nature are occurring, as I type, and we humans have no knowledge of how to stop the chemical process taking place, since we don’t really understand our own planet all that well. But, we keep pumping particulate matter into the air, anyway, even though it has become abundantly clear that doing so will lead to disastrous consequences.

See, that is the other face of our fatal flaw; we humans have the ability to deny reality, to pretend it doesn’t matter to us what may happen in the future, as long as our desires of the moment are being met. Every human I know, myself included, has this power, and it is a power that will, in the end, be our undoing….

SIGH…. I intended to rant on this for a while, but, seem to have reached a point where it’s best to move on…. Look around you, ffolkes; see what is REALLY going on in the big picture, and, I think, if you can be honest with yourself, you will see just how badly we humans have fucked up our chance at life…. and, how little time left we have to try to mitigate some of our foolishness, before it kills us all….

So be it. gigoid has spoken….

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Comedy_Tragedy

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

Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patterr of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016


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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Random Gems

*******

“If you never assume importance you never lose it.”

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

*******

“Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount.”

~~ Clare Booth Luce ~~

*******

“Set the cart before the horse.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. vii ~~

*******

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*******

“Time destroys the speculations of man, but it confirms the judgment of nature.”

~~ Cicero ~~

*******

“Where there is much light there is also much shadow.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

*******

“Be and not seem.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******


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

Sorry ’bout the rapid removal up in the intro section, ffolkes. That was pretty radical, wasn’t it? I guess from now on I’ll test those devices out before employing them on a group; the insurance folks will like that. In the meantime, we have finished, and, not too shabbily, I’d say. Hey, it’s not every day you get a fresh poem, right? Since doing so rather fagged me out (the bleeding is copious until it gets down on paper/screen….), & I’ll need some time to recover…. 24 hours seems about right, so, I’ll see y’all right here tomorrow, if nobody aims straight….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Radio arguments on TV….

Ffolkes,

“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

Best One

Best Shot One


Hajime….. Inflatable cushions of hand-crafted silk dance amorously on waves of intense blue gazebos, trimmed in virulent aubergine, bellowing in unison to the dulcet melodies of an unseen orchestra, named Harold. As the music swells, so does the crowd, for ’tis the eve of destruction all have anticipated for so little time, it all seems new and bright. For shame, (for the few), and, glory, (for the fewer), they flit through gardens of brilliant pink flowers, glazed with incredibly bad hollandaise. But, wait, there’s more! If you act now, there can also be tuna! Nebulous as it may, or may not seem, it all blossomed like a young banana plant in Siberia, plastering itself into retinal patterns, but, won’t open the vault without some caramel sauce. Afterward, they all went home….

Well, that felt good. I happened to glance at the opening of yesterday’s re-blog before starting this intro; what you see is what I got. I guess I needed that, and so did you. That’s my story, anyway. For those who haven’t seen a lot of ECR yet, welcome to my head; if I hadn’t mentioned it, you might wish to keep your own heads handy, for things can get a bit strange here, at the drop of a cliche. Sometimes, I feel like the description of the mind of the Tick…. a vast plain of featureless white, with something shiny glittering in the far distance…. Other times, I feel like the center of a crowded galaxy, with stars so close together, night become impossible, and the light is supreme…

Then, I wake up, and sit down to write this blog, to save what few dregs of sanity that may linger in those featureless plains….. or, I let myself wander around the back corridors in my head, which seem to be endless, like the Tombs of Atuan, filled around each dark corner with treasures from ancient ages, bound with magic. Or, I drink my coffee first, and the intro looks entirely different than what we are going through today. And, no, I don’t have a clue as to why this is happening…. nor do I wish to know… It works for me; y’all are on your own, as we humans are in this universe. So be it.

Hey, I have an idea. Let’s get this slow on the toad, okay? Sounds like a plan. If it doesn’t work out, well, I’m sure y’all will let me know in the questionnaire we don’t hand out. Alternately, leave a comment, playing nice, of course…. I mean, be as critical as you like; just keep it civil, check? Check. Housekeeping finished, let’s do this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Truth can be a dangerous thing. It is quite patient and relentless.”

~~ R. Scott Richards ~~


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leonrussell

Leon Russell

Image from http://www.express.co.uk via Google Images


I had not realized Leon was still around, playing his heart out, but, he is… Since I’ve loved his music since the mid-1960’s, I was happy to find this video, of a concert from 2015…. Yay!…. Enjoy, y’all, Leon’s one of the originals…. Nobody like him. At all….


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Leon Russell Live

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About Hopi Indian Symbols

    I had a bad scare a short time ago; my computer crashed, with a message it couldn’t FIND a hard drive to boot….. YIKES! Now I need to start looking for a new computer, and backing up all my files…. To save some time, I won’t rant today, though I had a great opening quote with which to work…. Y’all will just have to wait for it…. Here is a much lighter pearl from a few years ago, to fill in the space today, while I go save my work from being lost forever…. Have fun…. I won’t be, so, somebody may as well enjoy the day….

From 4/22/2013:

So, there I was, cruising around Smart Bee, looking for pearls, when it occurred to me that I was engaged in a futile pastime, from the standpoint of the Universe…. I mean, what do I hope to accomplish with this stuff I write?…. Nobody’s mind will be changed, nobody will stop the carbon monoxide from getting pumped into the air, nobody is going to get mad enough to throw out all the assholes who are screwing us all…. This makes what I’m doing an exercise in mental masturbation, essentially, with as much hope of changing society as….. well, there is no hope for society, so I can’t think of a metaphor for it…. Nor is there any hope of anybody taking any of this seriously, even if read…

Having thus determined the absolute uselessness of our pastime, I will continue, fully cognizant of how lame it is…. I’m calling this a Pearl of Forlorn Lost Hope…. sort of…. Actually, it’s a subliminal pearl, and will worm its way into your head, where it will work on your attitudes, polishing and brightening them without you ever noticing…. By late this afternoon, you will have done a complete 180 from wherever you were, and will enjoy the rest of the day (that’s a subliminal post-hypnotic suggestion….)  Enjoy…..

“Does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce?   No, that’s too grand, too considered a process.  History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago.” — Julian Barnes

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” — Marcus Aurelius

“But whether there’s some grand design really matters little to me. My only hope was this: to see what might be, to believe that it should be, and then to do all I could to bring it to pass, whatever the cost. When a life spins out as joyfully as mine has done, then the price, once paid so painfully, is now recalled in gladness. I have received full value. Here among the shepherds, my cup is filled with the water of life; it overflows.” — Orson Scott Card, “Treason”

But sure the eye of time beholds no name
So blest as thine in all the rolls of fame.

~~ Alexander Pope, The Odyssey of Homer, Book xi, Line 591 ~~


” It is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had believed to be true since my earliest youth.  And since that time, I have been convinced that I must once and for all seriously try to rid myself of all the opinions which I had formerly accepted, and begin to build anew, if I wanted to establish any firm and permanent structure for my beliefs.” — Rene Descartes, Meditations

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed.

~~ Charlotte Bronte ~~


“There is no cure for birth and death other than to enjoy the interval.” — George Santayana

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

Comedy_Tragedy

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 ~~

5/3/2013


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

pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Esoterica on the Elements of Living

“At ebb tide I wrote a line upon the sand,
and gave it all my heart and all my soul.
At flood tide I returned to read what I had inscribed
and found my ignorance upon the shore.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

*********

“There is always more than we see.”

~~ Sagacious Bee  ~~

*********

“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

*********

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

~~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau ~~

*********

“To develop a complete mind:
Study the science of art;
study the art of science.
Learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

~~ Leonardo da Vinci ~~

*********

“Love isn’t love until you give it away.”

~~ Romantic Bee ~~

*********

“Enough is as good as a feast.”

~~ John Heywood, Proverbes, Part i, Chap. xi ~~

*********

“Real life is, to most men, a long second-best,
a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible;
but the world of pure reason knows no compromise,
no practical limitations,
no barrier to the creative activity.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

*********

“If you don’t control your mind, someone else will.”

~~ John Allston ~~

*********


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

Thankfully, the process held up to the challenges today. I’m going to get this posted before something else happens. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, provided I still have a functioning computer…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 6653


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Sneering in bafflement, he punted….

Ffolkes,

“The cat would eate fish, and would not wet her feete.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) ~~

~~ Proverbes, Part i, Chap. xi ~~

Leelu the berzerker

Leelu in Berserker Mode


Hajime…. Life sure can be funny. Since I’m a complex sorta guy, that’s actually a complex statement, as the word ‘funny’ can be construed to mean a lot of different sorts of things about life, not all of which are at all funny, or fun. It’s also why English is such a powerful tool for communicating, as well as a barrier to the same communication. Two people with a different understanding of, and, skill in using the language, may very well not be able to understand each other, at all, though they both share intimate knowledge of it, having grown up using it. Environment, background, education, intelligence, imagination, all can play a part in how the language is used by anyone, and, no two people share the exact same degree of similarity in ANY of those categories.

All of which being said, I am compelled by my own nature to wonder, how the fuck we ever wandered this far out of the trees? C.S. Lewis, I believe, once made the lament,

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

Add in this most-accurate assessment of the human mind’s ability to perceive the universe, and one has to feel a sense of astonished surprise, not only that we have created a world-wide society, but, have done so without ever achieving any sort of world-wide understanding of our own nature….. To observe the antics of the naked apes who infest the surface of this planet, is very similar, in “look and feel”, to watching an old Roadrunner cartoon on Saturday morning. In fact, watching the Roadrunner makes much more sense than much of what I see passing as socio-political activity around the world….

Did y’all ever wonder, as I did, about the two most puzzling things to me about Wile E. Coyote? First, why, when he was obviously the stupidest creature on the planet, was he called “wily”, a word which, even at age four, I understood couldn’t possibly apply to the stupid beast….. I mean, even if he WAS indestructible, (our first lesson in the fiction vs. reality issue…. How many of US could live through a 5000 foot fall, followed by the arrival of a five ton rock on our head? Hell, it would give Superman a moment of pain, if he couldn’t fly….

Second… Why didn’t the idiot ever just start ordering FOOD from the Acme Co.? It seemed to me, as a young, already half-trained consumer, if the company made that many different products, of such amazing variety and complexity, how easy would it be for them to deliver some fried chicken, or even fried rattlesnake, which, I am told, tastes like chicken… But, then, doesn’t everything but beef and lamb taste like chicken?….

But, NOOOO…. Mr. Smart Guy Coyote keeps ordering weapon after weapon, none of which ever worked the way he expected. Which comprised our second lesson in reality vs. fiction, though, as it turns out, that’s pretty much how ANY corporation operates….. S’trewth, swear to god….

SIGH…. I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Ranting in the intro, when I tried to start out looking for ironic humor…. See where good intentions will get you? Oh, well, next I’d have to move on to more lamentations about human nature, and how virtue has all but disappeared from the public arena… Hell, I even found the perfect pearl to go with such a discussion, showing EXACTLY what happened, at least, here in the US…. It is also from C.S. Lewis, one of the more flexible-minded, and, honest Christians to ever pick up a pen… He said, regarding virtue, this:

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky.” — C.S. Lewis  _The Screwtape Letters_

But, that’s a rant for another day, unless, of course, we pick this up in the third section. Who knows at this point? If I did, well, I’d say so; that means simply that I haven’t decided yet. Nonetheless, and, notwithstanding, such is now moot, as Guido has entered the cockpit (don’t even think it….), and we’ll be taking off any moment…. Let’s just do so quietly, and calmly, just as if we knew what we were doing here, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?….

“A gentleman is one who doesn’t demand a lady prove that she is.”

~~ Solomon Short ~~


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

    Though I have plenty of energy, I’m lazy. Since that is true, I’m going with my own default choice of music, which, if you’ve been reading here for any time, you’ll know what that means; you’re gonna hear some classical music…. It was about twenty or more years ago I got fed up with the current crop of music bombarding the airwaves and musical venues. I began to listen to classical music, and have felt the rightness of the decision ever since. Rather than listening to the last 65-plus years of what has been produced (some of which is good, but, mostly, it’s crap…. see Sturgeon’s Law….), I now have several centuries worth of music to explore, from all over the world….. Sturgeon’s law still applies, but, the statistical universe of available music has been filtered for quality for a LONG time; what’s left is a much higher percentage of the good stuff….

Bonus!….. Enjoy, ffolkes…. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt, even if you have perfect pitch…… As is my habit, the compilation I picked simply had the most attractive picture, for my taste….

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gigoid’s Musical Default

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

Dont keep calm

What do we do? We have lost our way.
From afar, the Demon cries out,
He is leading us astray.

Skyward soar the whirling demons,
Shrouded by the falling snow,
And then the plaintive, awful howling
Fills my heart with dread and woe.

~~ Alexander Pushkin ~~


Gee…. I wonder if that means more ranting about the present state of world affairs? What do you think? Should we continue in the vein in which I began today’s Pearl, or veer off in another direction? Hmm… Let’s see what the magic 8-ball says….

Oops. Forgot; broke my 8-ball a long time ago. Oh, well. I think I’m not in a mood to rant at the moment. Hang on, & I’ll go see if I can find something to tip the scale in one direction, or another… Don’t worry, I’ve got a Tardis, and this isn’t real…. so, it’s like, you’ll never notice I was gone….

Okay, got it. That actually didn’t take long at all…. Of course, I COULD be lying, but, we wouldn’t want to pick up any bad habits…. It took only a moment, to find this:

“The land of the free!  This is the land of the free!  Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me, and that’s my freedom. Free? Why I have never been in any country where the individual has such an abject fear of his fellow countrymen.  Because, as I say, they are free to lynch him the moment he shows he is not one of them.” — D. H. Lawrence

Now, if THAT isn’t a great start to pick up where we left off above, I don’t know an oyster from a mussel. And, I do. Know the difference, I mean. In fact, I also know, being a chef, while mussels, steamed in white wine, fish stock, garlic, and a bit of butter, lemon juice, & parsley, is as close as people ever really get to heaven, only oysters, those ugly, yet somehow noble bivalves, can make pearls. Besides, the only way the oysters themselves are REALLY edible, is breaded, deep fried, and smothered with a LOT of Tartar, or seafood cocktail sauce. Otherwise they’re a lot like eating old shoe leather, unless eaten at ONE specific moment upon cooking. Before, or after that moment, they are virtually inedible… Even for those with ALL their teeth…

But, hey, pearls, you know? Which brings us back to the completion of this section today. I’ll quit fooling around, amusing as it may be, (or not; not my call….), and get to the meat of today’s piece.  I’ll start with an old graphic pearl from one of my most consistent sources for wise, witty comments, to wit:

Albert E & true sin


This statement is possibly the clearest I know, to describe WHY our world is the way it is today. Albert put his finger on the root cause of every problem we face today, i.e., courage in the face of evil. Personally, I have given up any hope of making enough changes in society to protect us from ourselves…. Hope, as Emily D. pointed out, is something that, being human, never goes away…. But, my hope is about gone, for I don’t see us humans finding the understanding which can save us before the planet itself kills us for our effrontery……

Rather than expose y’all to any more of my own negative conclusions, I’d like y’all to read the following article, which my news reader provided to me, and with which I can only agree wholeheartedly. It’s brilliant, to be honest, and, if there is any justice in the world, will go viral quite soon…… It’s by an author named Elizabeth West, and she has hit upon some strong truths…. Don’t try to decide from reading the title; just trust me, & go read it. You won’t regret it…. Not even if I close out the section with my own take/interpretation, (though voiced with a power of expression I can only dream of achieving some day….) of the most probable, ultimately final decision Reality is going to make about the human race… Ms. West might convince you otherwise…..

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/04/abandon-all-hope/

This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

~~ T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men” ~~


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

Comedy_Tragedy

Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long and with passion has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now I’ve gone past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/21/2012


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

ankh

Naked Pearls IV

*********

“Everything you know is wrong.”

~~ The Firesign Theater ~~

*********

“Every action in our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.”

~~ Edwin Hubbel Chapin ~~

*********

“Virtue is beauty.”

~~ Shakespeare ~~

*********

“There are two kinds of egotists: 1) Those who admit it;  2) The rest of us.”

~~ Psyche Bee ~~

*********

“Half the failures in life arise from pulling in one’s horse as it is leaping.”

~~ Julius Hare ~~

*********

“In war and life, either fight to win or don’t fight.”

~~ Warrior Bee ~~

*********

“She [virtue] requires a rough and stormy passage; she will have either outward difficulties to wrestle with, …. or, internal difficulties.”

~~ Michel de Montaigne — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xi, Of Cruelty ~~

*********

“A misery is not to be measured from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer.”

~~ Joseph Addison ~~

*********

“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”

~~ Hugh Downs ~~

*********

“Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is gonna be alright.”

~~ Bob Marley ~~

*********

However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?

~~ Buddha ~~


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

Well, it’s done. All that remains is to go post it, which will be harder than usual today…. I put a lot into this one, even though the poem isn’t new, and the major rant belongs to another author. Nonetheless, I don’t believe I can do this any better than this turned out, so, I hope y’all enjoyed consuming it as much as I enjoyed putting it together…. I’ll be back tomorrow, to see if I can do it this well one more time….Why not? That would make a total of at least four, over four years…. Not bad, for an amateur…

Spoiler alert: Things ’round here may change some in the near future…. Y’all stay alert, y’hear?…. It could mean your sanity, and mine…. Oops. Maybe not yours…. really. I mean that, or, rather, I didn’t mean that…. Well, never mind, you’ll see….. Just, be careful, okay?…. C Ya.

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5012


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Fionella isn’t ready to cope….

Ffolkes,

“Mankind…
The public enemy’s not the man who speaks his mind.”

~~ Anthrax ~~

capuchin6

Can you tell me when the next shuttle blasts off for Mars?

This place is TOO crazy!

Image from SFGATE.com Pictures of the Day Feature, Thursday, 2012


Good morrow to you…. Due to circumstances completely within my control, I’m running late. This means nothing. Well, it does mean I’ll cheat again, but, other than that, you’d never know, unless I told you…. Hence. the warning, since we’re all about full disclosure around here…. Unless, of course, that would be silly…. Goodness knows we do that enough, as it is….

Shall we Pearl?

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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Dont keep calm

    Today’s video choice is here, heralded with the ranting logo, to take up the slack due to no fresh rant…. Here is one of our favorite comedians, with a complete show of stand-up comedy, dealing with modern times…. I haven’t watched it yet, but, if he does stand-up as well, and as pointedly as his weekly show, it should be quite Carlinesque…. and, though I had to add that word to the Spell Check Dictionary, I don’t believe that will be true for the future…. Carlin’s name will go down in history as possibly the greatest social critic/comedian of his time…. The ultimate jester…. Enjoy, ffolkes….


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John Oliver

Terrifying Times

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About Hopi Indian Symbols

    As noted above, and, as the picture of Kokopelli indicates, (if you know me at all…)  there won’t be a fresh rant today…. Here instead are some pearls I’ve saved as potential openings for several rants; you’ll get the picture, I think….

“Art is a moral passion married to entertainment.  Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.” — Rita Mae Brown

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man.  The reason is not far to seek.  It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” — H. L. Mencken

“If you could print all the money you wanted, and steal all the money you wanted, couldn’t you manage to stay out of debt?” — Smart Bee

“Did you hear that the Dutch government gave Quayle 12 rare Rembrandt etchings? He’s already got four of them colored in.” — Random American comedian, 1990

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield

“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.” — H. L. Mencken

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.  The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.
— Fedor Dostoevsky

Okay, that’s probably enough for you to get the idea we’re shooting for today…. As a small bonus, allow me to end this section with a perfectly appropriate critical comment from the man who codified most of the Proverbs to be found in the English-speaking world….

“This hitteth the nail on the head.”

~~ John Heywood (1597-1580) ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

    Today, we’ll go with two short, classic poems from our cultural past…. Two of my favorites, I might add….

The world is too much with us; late and soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
     
~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~


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Lao Tzu sez

    This picture, I think, is my absolute favorite pearl of wisdom, taken as a whole, virtual or otherwise… The picture, wonderfully conceived and executed, is a perfect graphic representation of the words of Lao Tzu, giving depth and color to the idea, making it even more powerful than the words can do alone…. Considering the lesson involved, as possibly the most powerful single idea humans have to learn in their entire life, that is saying a lot…. It states the entire concept in visual words… the Man, split apart by opposing forces within… the fiery power of the passions of the heart, versus the cool, cerebral, electric power of the reasoning mind….. bloody brilliant!…

Since I don’t have enough like this to construct an entire pearl, we’ll go with a regular style, old-school pearl, with lessons similar to, or a variation of this one…. It’s pretty deep, and can stand up to a lot of discussion; in fact, it has done so, for a very long time…. Let’s pearl, ffolkes….

“A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.” — Samuel Butler

“Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it’s a wiggle.” — Smart Bee

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko

“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it…. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 29

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde

“Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hmm…. Given the nature of the beginning, the results of our search seem a bit… off. Off parameters anyway, and, it certainly didn’t exactly follow the line of inquiry suggested by Lao Tzu’s opening remarks, did it? Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to call it a compendium of lesser known lessons about life, as presented to, and by, gigoid, the dubious…. I picked ’em, after all…. If it comes to that, I DO stand by each one of them; they all have been useful at one time or another in my life, to be sure….

So, there… and, so be it.

gigoid has spoken, as should be expected….

Oh, shush! Ah say, shush, boy!….

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

Well, since it’s done, we won’t quibble. Instead, we’ll waffle, and make like a tree….. Yep, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if nobody talks me out of it….

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Freshly original excuses for sale or rent….

Ffolkes,

Over the earth, the lake:
The image of Gathering Together.
Thus the superior man renews his weapons
In order to meet the unforeseen.

~~ I Ching ~~

Glasgow-Greenock Port 010

Greenock, Scotland, seaport near Glasgow


Okay, so, here’s the deal. In the usual way, I’d blather, or tell a tale, or, perhaps, hold a chatty gossip session, in order to get this intro section done. Occasionally, when my level of angst is high, I’d rant…. None of them seems to work on a consistent basis, not to my satisfaction…. So, I was thinking, how ’bout we just skip it altogether…. In this section I’ll simply say “Hello, and good morning. Shall we Pearl?”, and that will be the end of it… What do you think? Will it work…. Just for fun, let’s try it today, alright? Here we go….

Good morning, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“I am ignorant and impotent and yet, somehow or other, here I am unhappy, no doubt, profoundly dissatisfied… In spite of everything I survive.” — Aldous Huxley

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

Ella-Fitzgerald-Ella-Fitzgerald--434308

Image from imgbuddy.com via Google images


Though never a huge jazz fan, I don’t believe there’s ANYONE who can listen to these two artists playing together without having a smile come to their face, or tapping their toes in time…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. We’ll never see their like again….


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

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

Ella & Louis (Full Album)

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

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

Dont keep calm

    I’ve decided to be nice…. Below you’ll find today’s rant, such as it is….

“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_

Really. ‘Nuff said, I should say. In fact, I don’t think I can improve much on that, so, I’m not going to try…. Let’s pearl, instead…. You will find, I’m sure, that each of the following seven pearls can be applied to either politics, OR religion, with equal facility…. Enjoy…..

“The avaricious man is like the barren sandy ground of the desert which sucks in all the rain and dew with greediness, but yields no fruitful herbs or plants for the benefit of others.” — Zeno

“Familiarity breeds contempt.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 640

“We are what we repeatedly do.” — Aristotle

(What’s this doing here? Easy…. We keep voting, don’t we?…. Or, in the case of religion, we keep believing it, don’t we? Well, some of us do… others, not so much….)

“And out of mind as soon as out of sight.” — Lord Brooke (1554-1628) — Sonnet lvi

(They count on this, a LOT….)

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“Remember, to them it is us who are the enemy” — N.F.Simpson

“All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?” — Edward Abbey

There! Now, wasn’t that better than one of my rants? I though so, and, that’s all that really counts, so, deal with it….

Ooh! Ooh! I found another one, and it’s the perfect closer….

1. No matter what they’re telling you, it’s not the truth.

2. No matter what they’re talking about, they’re talking about money.

~~ Todd’s Political Principles ~~

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

Comedy_Tragedy

A dream, weeping….

“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”

So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.

Storms follow the sun,  but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.

Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.

Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.

Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.

Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 8/30/2014.

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

About Hopi Indian Symbols

    Today’s final pearl is somewhat esoteric; it’s what happens when SB is on a tear. I have to take what I can get…. This one seems to be comments on living as a human in this Universe, such as it is, and, such as we are, in it…. I think…. You tell me, if you think it’s something different…. Well, I KNOW it’s different…. I mean, just…. never mind. Enjoy. Please?…. It IS pretty cool….

“In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.” — Edward P. Tryon

“Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man,–yesterday in embryo, to-morrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hair’s-breadth of time assigned to thee live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 48

“I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still of nothing am I in want.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act ii, Sc. 2, 12, (243.)

“Than catch and hold while I may, fast binde, fast finde.” — John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. iii

“The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of the Training of Children

“Hence these tears.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act i, Sc. 1, 99, (126.)

“Dying is a very dull, dreary affair.   And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.” — W. Somerset Maugham

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

This may be the freshest Pearl in some time. That’s accurate, because it’s just as vague as it can be; look close, & you can see the time period described could be anything from 10 minutes to 10 years…. Gad! I love obscurity!…. Or, it might just be the word “obfuscation” which is one of my all-time favorites, and perfectly applicable in today’s situation. Nonetheless, we’re done here, so, I’ll leave this nonsense where it belongs, here at the very end, and take my leave, post haste, before it catches on…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Burning stacks of cancelled portfolios, in the rain….

Ffolkes,

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past,

but by the responsibility for our future. “

~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~

cuban land snail

    In the first half of the twentieth century, an American philosopher, H. L. Mencken, offered a comment on modern life as he perceived it. I’ve always liked it, but, until recently, didn’t fully “get” the full impact of the statement, which we offer below:

“Every normal man must be tempted at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

This morning, I believe I have come to a greater understanding of what he was describing, and can only agree, in full. I say this, because I have reached a point in my life where I am ready to start giving in to such impulses. In fact, I’ve already spit on my hands, and hoisted the black flag; all that remains is to begin slitting throats, a process for which I am already fully prepared. As a life-long student of War, and its Arts, and, as a retired chef, I have a large collection of fine, sharp knives, over half of which are perfectly suited to throat cutting….. Hell, maybe I’ll just use the cleaver…

I have also observed human society now for many years; as a result, I have a long list of candidates for this sort of attention. I could, conceivably, keep myself busy right here in my home state, or home town, for that matter, but, I think it would be more efficacious, for me and for society, if I were to begin my campaign in Washington D. C., or, at a conference of the Tri-Lateral Council, where I would be able to eliminate quite a few of the major obstacles to human progress, all at once.

Actually, anyplace where more than one or two of them are together will do fine; I’ve got some grand ideas on how to use different methods of achieving the same purpose as a throat slitting…. You know, organic bombs, aerosol poisons, lasers, good stuff, all perfectly appropriate for use on groups of evil assholes, in lieu of a sharp blade…

Ah well, fantasy in the morning! Gotta love it. If nothing else, some of that almost constant urge to kill a pundit, or an asininny of some variety, is lessened by enough to keep from rushing out of the house, knife in hand, to go look for the nearest asshole to separate from his blood supply. I figure it’s good practice anyway, to smother that urge to kill, at least to the point where one is not constantly distracted by the need for revenge….

I’m hoping it isn’t just me who feels this way. If enough of us slit enough of the right throats, maybe we humans could make some progress toward fulfilling our real destiny, which has always been the pathway to the stars….. I have believed, since the first time I ever looked up in the sky, and realized those stars were other places in our universe, we were meant to go there, if only to do what we do best, which is to learn…. Our curiosity, stimulated by our imagination, is much greater than can be fulfilled on merely one planet; our destiny is the stars….

These days, it’s becoming questionable if we will ever be able to fulfill that destiny, or any other. I suppose I’ll have to wait, for the time being, before giving in to this urge toward revenge. But, believe me, if they give us much more shit, I’m grabbing the sharpest knives I have, and heading east…. Count on it….

Shall we Pearl?

“Laugh, about it, shout about it when you’ve got to choose–whichever way  you look at it you lose.” — Paul Simon

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

My mood is so dark, so heavy, I need help. Here is a collection of cartoons from my youth, with one of my generation’s most important heroes. Mighty Mouse gave kids a real hero, a little guy who could beat up big guys, and who always protected the weak and vulnerable from the depredations of the evil bullies who persecuted them (Are you beginning to see the theme here?…. MM was the first hero to show the common man and the forces of evil in eternal combat, with the common man winning every time…)

The weekly battles Mighty Mouse engaged in against evil opponents, always winning, showing them up as bullies in the process, was the perfect mental attitude training for a generation of political and societal activists, which many of us became…. Some of us are still fighting those forces of evil; nowadays, though, finding the evil is much easier, because much of it is to be found in official uniforms, or in government buildings. Sadly, it’s also easier due to the simple fact there are many, many more of them now…. the silly asses breed like rabbits….. Ah well, watching some of these will take me back to those days when we still had a lot of hope…. Now, hope must be aware of how fragile it has become…. Enjoy this little break from reality, ffolkes….

Mighty Mouse
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dont keep calm

    I found the piece below in an old document, in a file folder called “Current docs”. It was written, apparently, on Thursday, ‎September ‎06, ‎2012, at ‏‎2:21:33 PM, entitled:

{Chaos + Entropy } – {Compassion + Love} = 42

SIGH…. there are times, such as this, when I wonder what life might be like without Murphy’s unkind attentions, and, though it might affect the balance of the universe somehow if he weren’t around to see to his chosen task , (that of filling my quota, plus bonuses, of stupid, annoying crap, with which to deal at the most inconvenient times), I’d be more than willing to try it out, just to see if I could deal with THAT any better than I do with him dogging me…. In fact, I’d give serious money to have an opportunity to try….

Sadly for me, and for all of us, I suppose, money won’t buy freedom from Reality, or from the elements of Chaos, and Entropy, that are as much a part of life as are Order, and Beauty….  There are people who believe that money CAN buy happiness, but, as is commonly true with such misguided entities, they are deluded, existing in a way that prevents them from ever really connecting with the universe deeply, or experiencing the finer parts of life, those that come only when one is open to compassion, and to love.

Moreover, these poor, sad fools are completely ignorant of missing out on anything, mistakenly believing themselves to be rich as Croesus…. which, in fact, they may be, in terms of gold, or other substances people value in this plane of existence…. This, however does not prevent them from being, in truth, sadly misdirected, delusionally convinced of their own rightness, in spite of all evidence otherwise, and, ultimately, pathetically overburdened with more THINGS than they can ever use, or even appreciate.

In spite of what they probably feel is true, when they die, none of what they’ve spent their lives pursuing can go with them, wherever they may go…. There’s no conclusive evidence indicating any particular destination to which we go when we pass on, at least, none we can perceive, or comprehend in our current state of being…. S’okay, we don’t really need one; we’re just too curious to let it go….

We wonder still, in spite of knowing, in all of our checkered, but, pretty well documented history, nobody has ever come up with any real, solid evidence for ANY of the theories on the matter, one way or another. Many would, and constantly do, argue this point, but, I know for a FACT, it is for sure, and for certain, wherever our consciousness may go, it won’t be carrying bus fare, or any credit cards…. and nobody, I think, wherever it is we end up, will care at all how much crap they owned while they were here….

Who knows where THIS came from…. not me. I found the first part in an old Pearl intro, and the rest just spewed out…. so be it….

gigoid has spoken….

Okay…. not bad. Since our space for ranting has been taken up with this little side trip into my head, we’ll close today’s section with two links, one to my pal Lou’s web site, where he displayed the article you will find at the second link. It’s an EXCELLENT treatise, one I hope becomes a viral hit on the internet, soon. It will, quite frankly, provide the proper impetus to begin the world-wide revolution, as it exposes, EXACTLY, how Mankind has been DUPED by this ages old conspiracy to saddle the human race with slave collars, welded on their necks by a delusional system forced upon them from birth… Read it and weep, all you religious fanatics; your time is up…..


Pretty clear and simple, eh? Anyone with more than two neurons in their head acting together will see just how they’ve been duped for millennia by these self-serving asses….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken, and he’s not the only one pissed off….

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

I can’t seem to find anything more fitting, so we’ll go with one of mine from the archives…. Enjoy!….

When life calls, ready or not….

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~


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

Today’s final old school pearl will be a mystery pearl. The first pearl you see is one I chose yesterday, but, didn’t have time to follow up. I will complete it now, and hope it comes out in such a way as to fulfill the promise of the most excellent opening…. Let’s see how it comes out, shall we?…..

Know then this truth (enough for man to know),

— “Virtue alone is happiness below.”

~~ Alexander Pope — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 309 ~~


“Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Return of the Jedi”

“You can kill a man but you can’t kill an idea.” — Medgar Evers

“To give pleasure to a single heart by a single kind act is better than a thousand head-bowings in prayer.” — Saddi

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle

“To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light.” — Coventry Patmore

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it–even if I have said it–unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” — The Buddha

“The world exists for its own sake, not for ours. Swallow *that* pill!” — Edward Abbey

“Be the day never so long,

Evermore at last they ring to evensong.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. vii ~~


Not bad for a mystery, eh?

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

In the time to come, the world will be without the luxury of mercy; whether we like it, or not, the whirlwind is coming. I’ve tried to give y’all as much warning as I can; the rest is up to you, as it has always been. For now, I’ll take my leave, hoping against hope we all have a chance to pull ourselves back from the edge toward which we are rushing….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, optimistic though it may be…..

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

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….