Tag Archives: Johnson

No, no, not the Toast Points!….

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Ffolkes,

“Kindness is my true religion.”

~~ The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet ~~

Day 3 and 4 028

    This coming Saturday is another of those days in one’s life that begins to assume a proportion of importance, and significance, greater than the other days, even other special days. On the one hand, that can be a delight; in other ways, not so much…. You see, it will be my 64th birthday…. I’ve finally reached that age Sir Paul and the boys sang to us. so many years ago, in a song whose poignancy now can bring me tears, rather than the hope and joy it brought me as a teen, when I first heard it…. Oh, which song is that? Why, “When I’m 64”, of course….

The song itself is a love song, obviously, which is why I say it’s poignancy, at least for me, assumes a melancholy aspect, rather than the comforting one it formerly held…. You see, the song makes the assumption that one will HAVE someone to love at 64, a feat which, somehow, managed to escape me…. I have my friends and my family, but, in essence, and in the final analysis, when I go to bed at night, and get up again in the morning, I am alone….

Oh, not completely, of course, and to be honest, I am thoroughly enjoying my solitude…. One doesn’t realize just how soothing being alone can be, until it actually happens. Nobody to tell me to pick up my socks, nobody to worry about waking up with my noise, nobody to cook for, nobody to pick up after…. all those little idiosyncrasies, and small annoyances that build up resentment over the time one lives with another person, never even get the opportunity to bother me, as I don’t have to deal with such things, at all… It really IS a nice way to live, if one can afford it….

I also love being retired, for a lot of reasons…. In fact, one of those reasons was brought home to me yesterday…. I went outside to sit on the porch a while; one of the landlord’s handymen was in the yard, getting it ready for winter. As I watched him sweeping some leaves, I was forced to admit that it was very pleasant to be able to sit on a nice day, and watch someone else do work, without any need whatsoever to join in….. Made me feel quite smug, actually, and improved my mood immensely…

So, I will remain alone, and mostly enjoying it, until serendipity strikes again….. If I were less polite, I could speak now of my hopes in that respect, but, rather than get any more maudlin, or more revealingly inane, I’ll take this little self-exploratory exposition, and play it as it lies…. In fact, that opportunity approaches quickly, and, it so happens, is located right next to one of our exit opportunities…. Ffolkes, I’d suggest you tighten your seat belts, and hold on, ’cause we’re goin’ for it….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Do you call yourself free?  I want to hear your ruling idea, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

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For the past month or so, I’ve been indulging myself…. Rather than read so much, I’ve been exploring You Tube, our society’s repository of video entertainment, ranging from private/personal videos to blockbuster Hollywood/Bollywood classic movies…. Personally, I find it serendipitous to have found a treasure trove, at least, for me…. Well-written, accurately portrayed versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories, from a long running series on BBC, are giving me, literally, hour upon hour of solid entertainment, without having to strain my eyes reading all night….

Well, I suppose the computer screen is no less troublesome for my eyes, but, it is easier than reading to watch the stories acted out, and very well acted, at that…. Jeremy Brett, as Sherlock Holmes, with Edward Hardwicke as the estimable Dr. Watson, were one of the very best Holmes/Watson pairings, with just the perfect degree of edge to their relationship, perfectly matching the pair’s bookish, very British, complex male intimacy…. and, Mr. Brett possesses the perfect build, voice, nose, and intensity of gaze to portray Holmes, as he did so admirably for 12 years….

Basil Rathbone, of course, set the standard for playing Holmes, and I find it interesting that the two men I consider to have done that the best, resemble each other very closely…. Both tall, (well, they APPEAR tall… perhaps an actor’s trick, but, nonetheless, both fit the image…), slim as a whip, with an aquiline nose and face, and those intense eyes, that can bore a hole right through one’s mind…. Brilliant, both of them…. Enjoy, ffolkes, I am doing so, a lot….

Sherlock Holmes -The Empty House

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“The entire world is being driven insane by this single phrase: ‘My religion alone is true.'” — Ramakrishna, Hindu saint & reformer

I would like to comment on the above statement, to set the stage for what comes after…. This short, pithy statement from a Hindu saint, to my mind, simply resonates with truth, a truth so deep it penetrates into virtually ALL categories of human interaction, and can be seen as the core reason behind a great many of the ills we are witnessing in society today…. The attitude he expresses, echoed by nearly every human being on the planet, no matter WHICH of the thousands of religious sects or philosophies to which they subscribe, has spread to include race, or nationality, or town, or university, or bloody bowling team….

The attitude he observes is so prevalent in society, the divisiveness isn’t even considered to be a problem; it is seen to be the natural state of affairs for mankind, so nobody even bothers to try to change it, in themselves, in others, or in the world at large…. They just accept their own racism/bigotry as “normal”, their aggressiveness as “courage”, and their stupidity as “faithful loyalty”, never realizing their loyalty is to ideas and concepts that were proven wrong centuries ago, or are simply a matter of traditional custom, and, thus, justifiable by right of common cause…. another ill-conceived idea, as it doesn’t ever consider whether the commonality extends outside their chosen group, the ones who spout the nonsense they with which they identify the best….

So, we end up with a society wherein the so-called leaders of the group lie to the public as a matter of policy, using a blend of partial truths and outright lies to manipulate the public into thinking, and acting, according to THEIR OWN agenda…. The public, meanwhile, are confused even further by those religious leaders who perpetuate their own agenda, wherein they counsel the public to obey temporal authority, if they wish to be rewarded with eternal life when they die, counting on their fear of death to convince them of the (false) need to give up their right to make up their own minds….

This sort of manipulation now extends to almost every corner of our society, as the government has gone completely rogue, turning away from the principles of a democratic republic, as our founding fathers wished this country to be run, straight toward the money, offered to them by those corporate snakeheads who have assumed the actual control of society, buying politicians, judges, and priests to do their will for them, allowing them to remain behind the scenes, to enjoy all of our money and resources that flow into their coffers each day…..

We, the people, end up with a government that lies to us, spies on us, and treats us as their own personal set of market slaves, while those who actually control the resources, and the money, go about their own business at the top of the heap, without a thought, or an ounce of compassion, for all of the misery and pain they cause to the other members of their species….

In short, they disgust me, and, though I am a compassionate man, I would feel NO remorse whatsoever should I ever break down, overcome my basic beliefs, including my own reluctance to kill, and start eliminating as many of them as I could identify…. I’m getting pretty damn close to that point, and, since I’m also getting to an age where I don’t much care whether or not I live much longer, I’d be the perfect assassin, with no fear of death at all…. and, all because of headlines like the following, which give you an idea of just how much the people in our beloved ruling class don’t give a SHIT about you, or anyone but themselves…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/us/us-secretly-monitoring-mail-of-thousands.html?_r=0

“The troubling part is that they don’t have to report the use of this tool to anyone,” Ms. Orr said in an interview. The Postal Service declined to comment on the case.”

This one doesn’t really surprise me, except for the fact that the article was allowed to be printed; it does tend to pull their covers…. That, in fact, may be the scariest, most disturbing part of all of it…. It is getting to the point where those who are responsible for most of the evil in the world seem to NOT CARE any longer if we know they are there…. They just go ahead with what they want to do, and don’t even bother to explain themselves…. even when exposed, such as now….

Now, THAT scares me…. What will we do, if they are so secure, they don’t even feel they need to hide their control any longer?…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/nyregion/two-governors-shifts-on-ebola-are-criticized-as-politics-not-science.html

“Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront.” — Edward Abbey

This headline is here to show again how the politicians of this country, of which governors are perhaps the most egregiously corrupted, use the fears of the public for their own agenda, to try to position themselves into portraying an image to the public that has nothing to do with reality…. They imposed the quarantines IN SPITE of knowing there was no medical justification for it… plain and simple, they lied, merely to make themselves appear to be strong leaders, who are concerned over threats to public safety…. The only safety the public needs is to be protected against THEM, seems to me….

Oh well, that’s enough ranting for one day…. Pretty soon, ffolkes, I’m going to STOP writing…. Then, who knows? Maybe I’ll go hunting…. sounds like fun to me….. I’ll leave you with two thoughts from Smart Bee and Zippy, which will provide the perfect closing thoughts…..

“One of the greatest advantages in the world is enjoyed by the person who says and insists that they are telling the truth, when in fact, they are telling the truth.” –Smart Bee

“Yow!  Are we wet yet?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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On days such as today, when I’ve ranted, again to little purpose, I feel a bit down…. but, in those cases, a poem like this is a sure cure for any such indulgence of will…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of the best, ever…..

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

~~ Dylan Thomas ~~


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An odd little pearl, composed of a series of comments on the state of being Man (includes Woman; we only use Man in be in tune with the most common standards of use, but, either one works, because, in this case, it includes both….

“The balls of sight are so formed, that one man’s eyes are spectacles to another, to read his heart from within.” — Johnson

“You aren’t responsible for what someone else loses you are only responsible for what you give and if you have given your best that’s more than they would have had without you.” — Callan Williams

“He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.” — Aristotle

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell the truth.” — Oscar Wilde

“As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.” ~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 1

“What’s a `pantheon’, and why is it mad at me?” — Famous Last Words

“For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Against Colote

That’s really not too shabby, ffolkes…. The last one, from Plutarch, (Who is, perhaps, next to Aristotle and Plato, my favorite ancient philosopher), sounds to me like a paraphrase of the Theory of Bozoid Tendencies…. I guess, among all his other talents, Plutarch must have been precognitive, as well….  Ya think?….

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I went to bed early, due to a tummy/gut upset (some part of my dinner wasn’t what my body likes, or can tolerate, apparently….), so, I was up way early, too…. Hence, this is done, and it is still shy of 6 AM…. But, that also means I can hit the day running, so, what the hell…. 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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….

 

Hey! These are good croissants!….

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Ffolkes,

“Hey, buddy!”
“What?”
“Is the bus coming?”
“Pretty soon, now, I think, ….. it’s breathing pretty hard…”

You figure it out; anyone over 16 should get it, without having to resort to pictures, or dictionaries…. I’m feeling bone-deep lazy, and found a bunch of good stuff yesterday in the archives, so, with some judicious editing, you’re getting a stale, massively punched up, hybrid Pearl, composed of nearly all old stuff, that was good enough to be recycled, because, hey, it’s just that good, okay? Allow me a bit of egotism here, and just read on…. I think you might agree that fresh wouldn’t be any more relevant, or more satisfying….

From May 12, 2012:

“And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.” — John Dryden (1631-1700) — Britannia Rediviva, Line 208

Wow! Have you ever seen a better description of this blog?    🙂    I’ve been torturing words now for over 12 years, at least in a bloggy sense; that’s about how long I’ve been doing these Pearls……

I’ve learned over the years not to hear their screams, or read the petitions, or pay any attention to the ones who try to distract me with their flexibility of meaning; I just strap them into the rack and start hacking away. Sometimes, in the intro, I force them, admittedly with some glee, to assume the shape of a short fantasy; other times I will completely embarrass them by telling them they are haiku, or a poem, when they know for certain I am no poet. I can be pretty cruel to the words in my head….

I figure it’s only fair, considering how they treat me much of the time. I don’t ask much of them, really…. just the morning group of five good pearls I can use to create these missives, and I’d leave them be. But much of the time, such as today, they insist on playing games, hiding, shifting about, presenting only the quotes they know I’ve already used, or massive amounts of Shakespeare, which they KNOW just annoys me….

No, they’re not very nice to me, so I feel no compunction about torturing them to get them to do what I need them to do. If I didn’t, I’d never get anything written. If I didn’t write as much as I do, I’d build up all this incredibly strong angst and tension, and eventually it would have to come out…. at that point, it has been known to be dangerous, especially for anyone in the immediate vicinity of the blast zone….

So, you see, this blog is really a public service in disguise…. No thanks are necessary: since they are my words, I take responsibility for them, and consider it my duty to keep them from harming others (except, of course, when I want them to do so….). I just didn’t want y’all to think I was hiding anything important…. I like to call this my Literary Guantanamo Bay for Wayward Words, where we have the leeway, and the executive authority, to torture those nasty, little, terror-inducing buggers into submission….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I had a dream which was not all a dream.” — Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Darkness
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There will come a time, one fine day, when I’ll go back through my archives, and pull together all the stuff about which I’ve ranted, to put together into one homogeneous work that I can publish as a book, or perhaps, given the amount of material, two…. who knows? If the world lasts long enough to make something like that worthwhile for me, I’ll no doubt do it, as I’ve always had the dream of being a published author, with a real book, that I wrote, to hold in my hand…. For now, it’s nice to be able to occasionally take a day to work a bit less strenuously to be fresh, practicing instead the skills I’ll need to edit all of what I’ve written…. I’m told that editors can be bitchy that way, so I may as well get all my ducks in a row before I go into any power struggles with one of them….

I intend to take full advantage of this little break today; hopefully, I may even be able to spend some time reading other WP blogs, to at least get to the sites of those friends and loyal Gentle Readers who have been coming by to check out my blog each day…. There aren’t a lot of them, perhaps ten to twenty regular ffolkes who drop by every few days to catch up, but, I appreciate each and every one of them greatly, and prefer to get to THEIR  sites first, before cruising randomly to any of the many sites I follow…. Strange, too, is the fact that I keep getting notified of new followers, but the people are names of bloggers who never hit the Like button, or comment, so I have no idea what they think about all of it, which, I know, is a LOT of material…. I’m just happy they liked it enough to Follow….

Be all that as it may, I get guilty a lot, from not being able to go read other blogs as much as I’d like….. However, the process of getting all this crap out of my head remains my primary purpose, so, that has to be the way it is, with little I can do about changing the way I approach it…. Any who, I’ll get around some today, and hopefully, can do so more in the future…. for now, we’re going to a random old-school style pearl, just so we can say there is SOMETHING fresh in today’s Pearl….. ‘Kay? ‘Kay!…..

“I will not be as those who spend the day in complaining of the head-ache, and the night in drinking the wine that gives the headache.” — Goethe

“The real danger is the gradual erosion of individual liberties through the automation, integration, and interconnection of many small, separate record-keeping systems, each of which alone may seem innocuous, even benevolent, and wholly justifiable.” — U.S. Privacy Protection Study Commission, 1977

“For good men but see death, the wicked taste it.” — Johnson

“History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.  …What is interesting is brought forward as if it had been central and efficacious in the march of events, and harmonies are turned into causes.  Kings and generals are endowed with motives appropriate to what the historian values in their actions; plans are imputed to them prophetic of their actual achievements, while the thoughts that really preoccupied them remain buried in absolute oblivion.” — George Santayana, The Life of Reason:  Reason in Science, 1918

“…Or, I may not feel that my belief-system needs to be self-consistent  in a post-Goedelian epoch.” — Dan’l Danehy-Oakes

We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so.

— Pope

“I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist

Well, serendipity certainly took a hand in THAT little collection of virtual wisdom, didn’t it? What a wonderful pearl this turned out to be! A little obscure, but, finely tuned to show off all those little twists that make me so happy….. Fret not, if you don’t see the underlying direction this takes, it won’t matter, as none of these will be on the Quiz…. Reading and understanding pearls is not the simplest skill we have to learn in our life; sadly, it’s also one nobody will ever pay you minimum wage for possessing, either….

It is useful, however, when reading the news, as it gives one a deeper understanding of how duplicitous the Asininnies can be, as well as the ability to dismiss nonsense in a trice…. And, if nothing else, it got us through that section without any casualties, so, from our standpoint here at ECR, it’s a win-win….
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This is one of my own poems, written in 2012…. I think all in all, it’s one of my best…. That, perhaps, does not say too much, but, I like it anyway…. I hope you do as well….

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.” — EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994

Unsolicited Gratitude

Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.

Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.

Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.

Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.

Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Since beginning today, which was, in truth, quite some time ago, (much longer than one would think, for what is mostly cut and paste material…. I guess I’ve been wordier than I knew….), I seem to have lost my way…. Since I wasn’t planning to go anywhere in particular, that’s arguably exactly where I went…. and they’d be correct to say so…. (Huh?)(Oops…. sorry, brain fart….. I only thought I’d written the lead-in to that last line….) (SIGH….)(Picture it….. old, graying, roundish guy at a computer, solemnly banging his forehead on the wall next to the chair…. but, not quite crushing the BIG, RED, NOSE on his face…..) (Here’s the lead…. “Anyone of a reasonable nature might be compelled to mention that seemed a bit abnormal….” then, the next part, ” and they’d be correct, etc….”)

I just looked up, to check that paragraph, and realized that it had gone beyond hope, in spite of what it says in section two’s poetry… Oh, it’s all there, and correctly punctuated, but, it’s just so frigging scattered, in thought, in timing, in juxtaposition, I’d be surprised if anyone who isn’t me could make sense of it…. I’d be wasting the time of both of us if I tried to fix it; the same could be said of just starting over, too… What to do, what to do, oh, me, oh my, indecision hurts…. Ah, fuck it, okay…. Scrap the whole nine yards, says the consensus…. Onward into the final section now, naked and unafraid…. WAIT!…. One more thing….

There’s still quite a ways to go yet, I know, so, I won’t keep y’all long, but, I just wanted to say this…  Never mind, it’ll keep…. here, this is better than anything I could come up with today, anyway, so, please enjoy the following politirant from the past…. which, as always, remains as valid today as when it was first posted, because, hey, the same sharks be swimmin’ in the same pool, see?…. Any who…..Enjoy….

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From 2/13/13: Thus, the election, of which much is spoken herein, would be the Presidential election of November, 2012, Obama vs. Romney…..

The following is a piece that I wrote just before the recent Presidential election, as section 1 of a Pearl I cannot find without more effort than I care to spend right now, even though it is still only 0633…. Tracking it down would mean scrolling through at least a month’s worth of old Pearls, from last year, (2012), and I’m not ready for that today…. However, I’ve re-read it, and consider it worth a second posting, as it covers a lot of things that remain relevant after the election, in spite of the fortunate outcome we saw…. Any who, without further ado, here is a pearl I entitled,

“Considering the Etiquette of Ignorance”….

SIGH…. the only reason I did not write this in 1988 is that I did not see it until today…. it is never a good policy to suffer a fool gladly, so my code of honor demands a response…. This begins the tale, but by no means ends it…. be warned, and be nervous, if not afraid….

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they  be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” — George Bush in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall 1988

Actually, George, the Pledge of Allegiance has no legal standing, in relation to the Constitution of this country, or for that matter, in relation to what our forefathers were thinking when they founded the nation. In fact, what was said here by such an upstanding Constitutional scholarly type, is, in reality, completely contrary to everything that makes a true patriot, or an American citizen.

The part in the pledge, (which no one at all is legally required to take, or state….), that says “under God” was only added in the middle of the twentieth century, by the same Congressional idiots who perpetrated McCarthyism, and the Red Scare, on the American public. It has nothing to do with the Constitution, and in fact, could be construed as a Constitutionally illegal statement, considering the intended separation of church and state that is the backbone of what our forefathers wished us to have as our legacy…. True freedom, not Christian usurpation of freedom…. A person’s religious belief, or lack thereof, is protected by the Constitution, and a patriot is one who supports the Constitution, not a church, or a corporation….

And if his name be George, I ‘ll call him Peter;
For new-made honour doth forget men’s names.

– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King John — Act i, Sc. 1

This kind of thinking from the Shrub, whichever one it was, Junior or Senior, is the same kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism that the colonists were escaping from in England back in the 16-1700’s when they came to the New World. The churches and corporations, both of which were singled out as dangerous to the republic by Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, Adams, Hamilton, and many of the other founding fathers, have tried to usurp the Constitution ever since it was ratified. Their writings, to each other, and in public venues, were filled with precautionary admonitions about allowing corporations and preachers to have access to, or influence over, members of government.

Ultimately, their fears were justified, as we now are facing just the situations they predicted…. corporations are manipulating our “professional thieves”, otherwise known as politicians, to vote for laws that favor them (Really, now…. “corporations are people?”… I don’t think so….), and the ranks of our leaders are rife with fundamentalists and religious nuts of all varieties.

“Men tend to have the beliefs that suit their passions. Cruel men believe in a cruel God and use their belief to excuse their cruelty.  Only kindly men believe in a kindly God, and they would be kindly in any case.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

It’s difficult sometimes to tell which ones are more dangerous, or more disgusting: the corporations who buy votes from those who fit the definition of “good politicians” (…. a good politician is one who stays bought….), or the religious demagogues who want to oppress everyone who doesn’t believe the same set of dogmatic constraints as they do. Neither one is particularly hard to spot, but they are protected by their tame dogs in Congress, who will do and say anything to make sure the cash keeps flowing…. right into their pockets.

As may be extrapolated, if one is exceedingly clairvoyant, one may infer from the above that the 2012 Republican  Romney/Ryan ticket disturbs me; I have no problem ranting without end right off the top of my head about the lies and distortions of reality that continuously fall from their lips. As I mentioned in a separate post, a lot of people are catching on to this, as Ryan was roundly booed offstage at the AARP meeting he attended to try to sell their admitted intention to rape Social Security and Medicare (Smart? No. Arrogant? Completely.).

In retrospect, even this negative reception is disturbing to me, as it shows just how little they care, that they are showing themselves to be only interested in lining their own pockets, and the pockets of those who own them, without apparent shame or embarrassment. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore; they just keep repeating them, even after having been shown to be false, believing that if they repeat the lies enough, people will buy them….

“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. xi

Unfortunately, they are right, to a large extent. Millions of people in this country, who have hung on to their prejudices and bigotry with desperation as the minorities have become majorities, are supporting these assholes, merely because they are white. They don’t realize, or seemingly care, that these are the same assholes who will be screwing them over completely as soon as they get sworn in, preferring to trust in the lies, because it soothes their fears of having a black President.

“Beware of the half truth.  You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.” — Smart Bee

This is why I have been repeatedly reiterating that this election is bringing this country to a crossroads. The outcome will show whether we intend, as a nation, to continue to fight all attempts to curtail the freedoms that were bought and paid for by our forefathers, with blood, sweat, and tears, or will become just another religious, corporate-controlled entity, in a nation consisting of slaves and their masters.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be at the polls as soon as they open, and will urge everyone I know to do the same…. vote early, and vote often (just joking….), but vote. We need to send a message to these fools, that there are still patriots and citizens of this country who believe in the vision embraced and established by the men and women who began this noble experiment in self-government….

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

Back in the future….. As I said above, the election came out okay…. but, the rest of what is said here remains relevant, and always in need of being heard….

Back, again, in the true future…. January 9, 2014, that is…. All I can say is, it’s done…. Really, I’m through here…. Nothing more to say…. As soon as the keyboard lets go of my fingers, I’ll end this section, and all of us can get on with our day…. What the F!…. Okay, who smuggled the handcuffs in past the scanner?….
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Okay, so, luckily, I found the key to the cuffs, (well, I beat up the guy who had them…. so, sue me….), and we’re no longer stuck in the last section…. This means, should I accept the mission, we can be done here, at least for the day…. Let me go see if that will fly with the censors…. Well, not too shabby, if I do say so myself, and, I do…. Not too shabby…. See? I said it….. I mean it, too, but, before I do anything to affect that judgment, or change the space-time continuum permanently, I’m getting my sorry ass outta here…. See you tomorrow, if Barry and the NSA leave me alone….   😆

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

dozer3

Filled with fanatical fervor for fennel cakes….

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6

Ffolkes,

“The attacker must vanquish; the defender need only survive.”  I had forgotten this lesson, until today, when Smart Bee remembered it for me. It’s one I learned a long time ago, first learning to use it in a physical sense, then later hearing it spoken aloud, and explored as a concept one may use to form strategy and/or tactics, and ultimately, use to deal with real issues in life.  I’m not sure, but it probably originated in The Art of War, the classic tome by Sun Tzu, that is still used today in military colleges all over the world, as the primer in that subject, the basic knowledge that all warriors need to understand. It is also an idea that many writers could use to make life easier, should they choose to observe it in their work….

I’ve been approaching this whole writing thing with a bass-ackwards POV, assuming that certain standards needed to be met, in order to consider myself successful. In point of fact, nothing of the sort is true, and following that path only leads to ultimate frustration, as one’s needs and desires bump up against Reality, always a sure-fire clusterfuck.

In Reality, standards only exist for the convenience of the natives; they don’t really apply to the real world at all, as the parameters for that are completely flexible, and change all the damn time. Reality doesn’t CARE, you see, only we do, so we try to place our own hang-ups, our neurotic need for some kind of understandable order, onto Reality’s shoulders, whereupon it just shrugs it off, every time….

The truth of the matter is that all I need to do is please myself, and not worry about the rest of it….. The purpose behind my performing this exercise is to maintain some semblance of sanity…. I’ve found that if I DON’T get this stuff out of my head, it tends to cause problems for me, and ultimately, for everyone else with whom I come into contact.

I am afraid that if I didn’t get it out of there, it could eventually creep out into the real world, and start affecting the parameters of the space-time continuum, with unpredictable, but most likely bad, results for everyone. Sudden shifts in how space and time operate are not particularly welcomed with glee by most of this universe’s inhabitants; they tend to get annoyed, once they’ve stopped screaming in abject terror….

As you might guess, I don’t want that to happen, so, I try to get all this out of my brain every day, lest bad stuff occur… it’s just better for everyone if I do…. Yep, that’s me all over…. altruistic and generously compassionate. See, it says so, right here on the label….. If you can buy into that, I’d like to speak to you later about an investment opportunity, just for you, with no risk attached…. Bring cash, okay?….

Since I’ve made this decision, which, essentially says that I can do whatever I damn well please, I feel a lot better, understandably. It takes a lot of pressure off to know that one needn’t give a shit about anything anyone thinks, or anything anyone can do; quite liberating, you know? I’m not sure as to how that will translate into the pearls, but, hey, any changes are good, as we say around here…. Besides, how could it get worse? Here now, stop that snickering, and be nice….

Shall we Pearl?….
_____________________________

These days, the urge to rant is almost constant…. the primary stimulant is always a news headline, and is always  out there somewhere, on the net, the radio, the TV, or in a newspaper, for me to find. I seldom need to even read the articles behind the headlines, as the irony comes clear quite well without doing so, and reading the entire set of lies that the pundits are trying to sell us just makes me more angry, which can make the rant more vicious.

No, there isn’t any difficulty in finding rantable material, the issue I’m having is in the motivation to do so, which seems to be waning a bit, leaving me feeling lazy…. It’s waning, I know, because my overall life is making me happier than it has in a long time, so it’s not as if I want that to change; that would be downright stupid.

It does make for less compelling Pearls, though, even though I think they are best when they’re a bit obscure. I was always taught that obscurity, used in this fashion, makes people work their minds harder, and that’s always a good thing, so that’s what I do…. Ranting is for ME, to get that angst out of my head….. creating old-school pearls is done with the reader in mind, to entertain and challenge, hopefully mixing in a bit of humorous irony, just for flavor (it’s the chef in me…. gotta feed people, even if only their heads….).

What I’m winding up to say here is that once again, we’ll go with an old-school pearl in this section today, because I’m not going to rant, having decided to leave that off today’s menu, as explained, in no doubt excessive length, above…. So, sit on back, relax, and limber up the old gray cells, ’cause this pearl’s for you!….

“Your knowledge would be useless without my ignorance!” — gigoid (Just kidding, found it in Smart Bee…. but, I could  have said it!….)

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou

“Aristotle was famous for knowing everything.  He taught that the brain  exists merely to cool the blood and is not involved in the process of thinking. This is true only of certain persons.” — Will Cuppy

“The Golden Rule is of no use to you whatever unless you realize it is your move.”  — Frank Crane

“He thought he saw a Buffalo
Upon the chimney-piece:
He looked again, and found it was
His sister’s husband’s niece.
‘Unless you leave this house,’ he said,
‘I’ll send for the Police!'”

— Lewis Carroll, “Sylvie and Bruno”

There! If that isn’t inscrutable enough for you, you’ll have to look elsewhere for your curly fries…. Oh, hell, okay…. Here’s a couple more, just so nobody can complain about not getting enough information to work with….

“We are born for a higher destiny than that of earth.- There is a realm where the rainbow never fades, where the stars will spread out before us like islands that slumber on the ocean, and where the beings that pass before us like shadows, will stay in our presence forever.” — Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

“A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.” — George Santayana

Okay, if THAT isn’t enough, it’s simply too bad, because these two, in conjunction with the other five, make up a damn good set of directions for enlightenment, for those who care to follow it to its logical end…. Never tell me I never give anything away for free….
_____________________________

In keeping with today’s theme of altered parameters and distorted paradigm, I give you a poem of mine, one that I’m quite proud of, all in all, and seemed to fit in to today’s theme… or not, but, hey, it’s at least got a good message of its own….

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 ~~

_____________________________

“..  I see TOILET SEATS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

More often than not, Zippy seems to show up either as the opening pearl for a group, or as the concluding pearl. He often ends up in the middle of a group, too, probably more often than anybody but Smart Bee, whose only limiting factor is whether or not Google can find out who originated an unattributed quote….

The above, for some unknown reason, (and, no, I don’t want to know….), just reached out and grabbed me, saying, “Use ME!”, and I thought to myself, “Why not?”…… I’m pretty easy about that sort of thing, as you’ve seen….. Any who, what this means is another old-school pearl, as this is just too broad a statement to use for a rant….

I suppose it could conceivably be translated into an unusual sort of metaphor for society, or the mountains of knowledge (I can see them now, forests of toilet seats, reaching off into the distance as far as the eye can see from the top of the mountain….), but, even I have my limits, thankfully. NO, instead we’ll just let SB, and Zippy, figure out what they want said, and pick out the quotes that will shine the light on that path…. I hope….

“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.” — John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. iv

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

“To set the mind above the appetites is the end of abstinence, which one of the Fathers observes to be, not a virtue, but the groundwork of a virtue.” — Johnson

“Freedom is meaningless unless you can give to those with whom you disagree.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” — Albert Einstein

“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tse

“I’m mentally OVERDRAWN!  What’s that SIGNPOST up ahead? Where’s ROD STERLING when you really need him?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, pay attention, please…. Back away from the screen, and carefully put down the mouse… We ended up in a place where the slightest wrong movement could produce a head-bomb of such destructive power, it could wipe out years of preconceived notions, a circumstance for which my insurance is not nearly extensive enough, neither to cover any damages that would ensue, nor provide any needed therapy in the coming years, should someone make a mistake….

There, all safe now… Sorry, didn’t expect that, but, that’s what happens sometimes when I let Zippy have his way. I think that’s probably enough fun for one day….
_____________________________

I happen to agree…. that’s probably enough for one day, fun or not….. Let’s check it out for typos and inconsistencies…. well, typos, anyway….

I’m forced to admit, some days it just comes out better than others…. Some day, I’ll figure out how to make that true for every day. For now, though, this will do quite nicely, and right on time, too! Sans further folderol…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Layered in pugnacious pyjamas….

Posted on by
11

Ffolkes,
I’m beginning to think that my habit of writing an average of 1500 words every morning is depleting my store of inspiration; if not, it is at least getting weary, and hiding from me more often. I can’t really blame it, as I’ve asked it to perform miracles almost every day, turning pearls, and what is in my head, into something worth putting down on paper (note: that phrase is rapidly losing all meaning, as computers become more ubiquitous….). That’s a lot of miracles in just about 300 days.

“This writing business. Pencils and whatnot. Overrated, if you ask me.” — Winnie the Pooh

But, having set myself the goal of posting a Pearl every day (set long ago, and too late now to worry about changing…), I feel duty-bound to make the best effort I can to meet that goal. So, I carry on, in spite of the increasing difficulty. I suppose it has to do with how writing is not for the weak-minded, or for those with no staying power to their will. Since I’m now not a chef, or a psych tech, or an executive assistant, writing is what I do, so I’ve left myself with very little choice but to keep on keepin’ on, as Jerry and the boys would have said….

I see my life go drifting like a river
From change to change; I have been many things –
A green drop in the surge, a gleam of light
Upon a sword, a fir tree on a hill,
An old slave grinding at a heavy quern,
A king sitting upon a chair of gold –
And all these things were wonderful and great;
But now I have grown nothing, knowing all.
Ah! Druid, Druid, how great webs of sorrow
Lay hidden in that small slate-coloured thing!
— William Butler Yeats, “Fergus and the Druid”

What does that mean for this process? Well, nothing really…. but it got me two more paragraphs of semi-literate, if relatively meaningless discussion of a personal problem, and a great pearl from Yeats, and that ain’t nothing…. so, we’ll just use that as a very, very loose segue into today’s dive for pearls…. shall we Pearl, then?…..
___________________________________

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.” — John Lennon

Men are afraid of women… hence all the jokes about them taking over, over slyly ruling us without us knowing it. Men’s fears of just that thing are what cause him to hate women, because they do not understand them, and fear arises out of lack of understanding. Here are a few examples of such lies, the lies that perpetuate the war between the sexes…..

“My notion of a wife at 40 is that a man should be able to change her, like a bank note, for two twenties.” — Warren Beatty

A lady is one who only shows her underwear intentionally. — Smart Bee

— Yo momma……so fat she has to buy two airline tickets. — Smart Bee

“A beautiful woman is paradise for the eyes, hell for the soul, and purgatory for the purse.” — Smart Bee

“Passionate kiss like spider web, lead to undoing of fly.” — Confucius say (No, he didn’t, but liars don’t care….)

Really, really sexist, misogynistic, and paranoid, yes? Yes….

The mere existence of these jokes, and others like them, indicates clearly what men are afraid of in women, and that is their sexuality. We… well, men, not necessarily we men, because not all of us hate them… No I don’t understand them, but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating or wonderfully different. I am aware of my own self, and my own powers, and they have naught to do with what women can do; I feel no need to compare the two, or to assume one is stronger or better. They are just different, and what is different about women is not to be feared, even if not understood. It is just to be learned, and appreciated, that’s all….and the learning is a totally awesome trip, I assure you….

But, back to the sexuality that men fear. Their fear exists because these men have never learned to understand themselves, or their place in the scheme of things; that makes them unable to understand women, and turns their ignorance to fear, and from thence to hatred and abuse against them.

Men cannot stand the thought that a woman might be more important than him, and that is a certain sign of lack of confidence, and of ignorance.  Men who know their place in life, and who are confident of their own ability to cope with that place and its demands, have no need or desire to be more important than anyone; they are complete within themselves….

Too many men in this world don’t come anywhere close to this kind of self-knowledge; most go through life without exercising more than two neurons at once, and those tend to lose function whenever the blood goes elsewhere than the brain (such as during an erection). Most men are so afraid of women that they spend half their life telling jokes like the above, and spreading the nonsensical lies that perpetuate this atrocity.

Yes, atrocity, because it is this fear and loathing, of both themselves and women, that leads to issues such as domestic abuse, sex trafficking, prostitution, and abuse of children. The only women who are actively engaged in these activities are those who have been brainwashed to believe the crap they’ve heard all their lives, and who have given up their own humanity; they are very few in number. Otherwise, it is men who perpetrate these vile actions on women…. all because of their own fear and ignorance…. I say, shame on them, for they are not men, in my world…. They are vicious, irredeemable beasts, and should be put down like the dangerous creatures they are…..

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten
___________________________________

“The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change.” — Howard Zinn

I would like to take a moment here to acknowledge a very honorable, and brave, act by the President of this country, Barack Obama. Yesterday, in a press conference, the President put the power of his office behind the defense of human rights, by stating that his administration was fully convinced that legislation that denied marriage to gay couples, or to anyone else, was directly in opposition to the Constitution by which we live. He made this a national announcement, and set the stage for what is sure to be a fire-storm of protest from the political and religious factions that have made this issue their rallying cry.

The idea that marriage between people who are not male and female is acceptable is one whose time has obviously arrived. Current polls nationwide have borne out the fact that a large majority of the population agrees with that assessment. But it doesn’t detract from the bravery required to mount that horse at this time, for it had to be known that it would be a decision that would create a lot of noise from those who feel differently.

So, I am, for once, proud of what a President has done; it is something I cannot recall ever happening in the past, at all. Most of the time I am forced to shake my head and hide my face in shame, agreeing fully with the Dixie Chicks when they apologized for Bush to the rest of the world.

Let us all take this time to appreciate how this President has taken the reins of leadership firmly in hand, to direct our country toward a future where human rights are more important than living in fear and ignorance…. Yay, Barry!…. Good Job!

“A commitment to diversity is not a commitment to blacks or gays or any other group. A commitment to diversity is a commitment to respect and value each individual employee (person) for who they are, a commitment to help them become the best they can be by honoring their nature.” — Callan Williams
___________________________________

OPERA
For centuries now, Opera has been the foremost method of humiliation available to the security forces. It began in the late 1600s, when peasant rebels were made to dress up as ridiculously fat people and get up on wooden planks in front of hundreds of their peers and shout the same things over and over and over, to a musical accompaniment. By the time the French Revolution came rolling along, it was the aristocrats who were forced to the stage to sing, gesticulate wildly and loudly perform plays devised to spread Revolutionary propaganda.  Nowadays, Opera has been driven underground, but is still carried out by the perverse, the deviant, and those with very big tits (both men and women), their audiences made up almost exclusively of establishment figures. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

That’s what I’m talking about! Opera, to me, seems like a perfect example of how a lot of folks get all worked up over something that everyone else says is cool, but really has nothing to justify that opinion. Sure, there is some good music that came out of opera, and a few cool songs (far fewer than any opera buff would have us believe…), but for the most part it is just a bunch of hype that normally smart folks seem to fall for on a regular basis, just because a consensus says they should. It seems to me that anything that anyone does because they ‘should’ gets exactly what they deserve, i.e., twaddle… and a good portion of it.

So, don’t fall for this nonsense folks. Remember, friends don’t let friends go to an opera… unless they’re mad at them….
___________________________________

Underneath this sable hearse
Lies the subject of all verse,–
Sidney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother.
Death, ere thou hast slain another,
Learn’d and fair and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee.
— Ben Jonson (1573-1637) — Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke

And as she looked around, she saw how Death the consoler,
Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it forever.
— Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882) — Evangeline, Part ii

“For good men but see death, the wicked taste it.” — Johnson

“Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.” — Scottish Proverb

Mankind has always had a fascination with Death, which, I suppose, is natural, considering it is one of the few things in this universe that all of us will experience at the same time in our lives. It is the Great Equalizer, in its finest sense; no one escapes. There are probably more books and treatises on Death, or involving some manifestation of Death, than of any other subject, save perhaps Love, another subject that deeply affects us all.

My writing about it probably enters the realm of superfluousness, but I found these great pearls, so I couldn’t resist…. Besides which, as I move ever closer to my own time to have a face to face with the Reaper, I find myself turning my thoughts to the subject, somewhat morbidly I’m sure….

How each of us faces that particular moment is about as personal as things can be, for we are all ourselves, little as we may understand that phrase, and the things we have learned in our lives are what will determine whether we are able to greet Death with dignity, or pitch a fit of major proportions….

I’m not going to go any further into this at this time, as I’m not so close to my time as all that. But, I will say that I hope that I can approach my own demise with some aplomb; I really hate to make a scene. It’s so embarrassing to wash one’s dirty linen in public, and I hope I have more panache than that…. I guess we’ll see, won’t we…. like we had a choice in the matter….  🙂
___________________________________

“Most people want security in this world, not liberty.” — H.L. Mencken

Mr. Mencken has put his finger firmly on what I see as wrong in our culture today, to wit: the average person in this country has assumed the “slave” mentality, and has adopted security as their preferred state over that of being free. Far too many of my countrymen, and women, have given up the right to think for themselves, opting instead to let the beloved ruling class decide for them what they may think, and what they may do.

They have given up this right for the illusion of security; I say illusion for the word ‘security’ has no meaning in Reality. One can never be completely secure; it just isn’t possible in a world where there are so many people devoted to taking advantage of one another.

Most folks who allow this degradation of their own liberty don’t realize that they have chosen an illusion. They believe that the people who have promised them security can not only give it to them, but are doing so because they care about what happens to their constituents. This, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth, for not only are they NOT doing it for their constituents, they are deliberately lying to them to get them to believe it.

The actual danger of being taken advantage of does not come from outside our country, but from those very folks who tell us we need to be secure, rather than free.  The very people who they think are helping them are the ones who are ripping them off with both hands….

“Any body of men who believe in hell will persecute whenever they have the power.” — Joseph M. McCabe (1867-1957)

It’s enough to make a man want to drink… a lot…. At least when I’m stone cold drunk I don’t feel so bad about it. Of course, in that state I don’t feel bad about anything, so it’s obviously not a solution, but it does offer some temporary relief from having to watch it happen. Ah well, so much for the American Dream, eh?…..
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Well, I must say, this has been one of the most interesting, and chaotic Pearls that I’ve ever composed. It seemed to go all over the map as I was writing, taking me from subject to subject willy-nilly, and having a grand time about it. On looking back over it all, it seems to have held together fairly well, so I’m going to go with it once again without trying to make any sense out of why…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

 

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

Kowabunga!