Reality is a revolving door….

Ffolkes,

“Well, it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test.”

~~ Calvin ~~

autumn door

Signs of Autumn in California….

Hajime…. I stayed up late last night, to finish a poem, which you will see below. In fact, all of today’s Pearl is freshly composed, so, that makes it special, at least for lately around here. I can’t say I feel much urge to create more this morning, so, I’ll forgo the usual sort of blather and foolishness you generally see in this section, in favor of a relatively efficient introductory section in the traditional style. Now, if I knew what sort of tradition had been established, we’d be in a better place. Since I don’t, you’ll have to take what you get, as will I….

Hmm… Having just spent a rather unproductive five minutes trying to find some worthy thoughts, or even singular thoughts, to fill in from this point, I am again perplexed, by my own lack of cohesion. Though all in my world is fairly settled, compared to most of the last week, the fires are not yet out, and my son is still displaced with his daughter, so, life remains a bit off its normally even course; there is little doubt much of the surrounding area’s inhabitants are in for a tough time for the next few months, as the massive destruction left behind by the fires is cleaned up & repaired. More than 5000 homes & buildings were burnt to the ground, so there is a lot of work to be done to replace and or repair the damages…. I’m only at the edge of the zone of destruction, but, have no doubt the local economies will suffer more before returning to anything like normalcy…. A hard rain’s a gonna fall, to use an appropriate metaphor…

But, I, and my family, have been fortunate; no one was hurt, and no one lost their home altogether; they all at least have a place to which they can return, once the fires are contained. But, the overall thrust of the local culture will be in recovery mode for quite a while to come, I am sure…. As soon as the fires are out, the news media will forget all about it, within a very short time, and the process of recovery the people here will undergo will include the difficulty of getting the aid needed from a government that simply doesn’t care about anything but its own status quo, and the agenda of cancerous growth, complete with destructive conflict, will continue on its path to armageddon…. Yes I know, cynical, but, hey, the evidence is pretty clear, I should say, so, if y’all feel differently, well, feel free to say so, as long as you have some actual evidence to support such short-sightedness….

I guess that’s about enough of a mini-rant for one day; I just don’t have the taste for it I once did. Instead, let’s go on, & see what I’ve managed to cobble together over the last few days. If I do say so, the poem is quite decent, the music is the same, and there’s a nicely obscure, yet relevant set of pearls in old-school format for your cogitative pleasure. What more could you ask for, except a shorter intro section? Nothing, that’s what. To make sure you get at least that much, let’s get on with it…. Hang on, we’re going in hot….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be “happy.”
I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible,
to be honorable, to be compassionate.
It is, above all, to matter, to count,
to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

~~ Leo C. Rosten ~~

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celtic design

For the past two days, I’ve been listening to the following musical compilation, streaming it on You Tube while reading, or working on the computer, or just staring into space, thinking. Even Leelu seems to prefer it to some of the other genres to which I listen at times. I know one of my gentle readers will avoid listening, but, that’s because it brings back sad memories for him…. For his benefit, this one is a bit different than much of what reminds him; it’s more lively, and more basic than the style that he associates with such music… In any case, it’s good thinking music, so, please, enjoy….

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Traditional Irish Music
Instrumental

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Comedy_Tragedy

Toward the dream….

At odd moments, idiosyncratic visions come
drifting up out of unconsciousness; I bleed life.
If proper doors have been left ajar, some
of all I am spills essential truth, a sharpened knife.

Hearing cries of fear, laying waste by rote,
wonder dies a sordid death, desolate at the very last.
Filling such empty spaces needs focus, so remote,
blankness stretches to infinity, a weekly fast.

Attractive illusions stand beckoning from the wings,
bright temptation for those without imagination.
The phoenix opens wide its beak, and sings
hoping for sweet harmony, with dignified anticipation.

Steadily, brightly, the music summons the dream
passion pales, held at bay in serenity’s gentle hand.
Intricate patterns, unsullied, visible by a soft gleam;
The poem, in song, dances lightly, brightly on the shifting sand.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/15/2017

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Notes on Life at Large….

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“Things are not always what they seem.”

~~ Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.), Book iv, Fable 2, 5 ~~

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“Remember there’s an “if” in the middle of life.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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“Your vision will become clear
only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.”

~~ Carl Jung ~~

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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

~~ Oscar Wilde, “Lady Windermere’s Fan” ~~

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“Unknowingly, we plow the dust of stars,
blown about us by the wind,
and drink the universe in a glass of rain.”

~~ Ihab Hassan ~~

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“The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.”

~~ Keanu Reeves ~~

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“It is by acts and not by ideas that people live.”

~~ Anatole France ~~

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“Sometimes it takes great effort
to discover that life was meant to be effortless.”

~~ Anonymous ~~

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“How often have I said to you
that when you have eliminated the impossible,
whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

~~ Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), ” The Sign of Four” ~~

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Well, there you have it, ffolkes. It’s late getting posted, but, it’s all as fresh as I can make it. I can’t say how soon I’ll have another one, but, I’ll try not to take too long…. The real world, complex and hard though it may be to live in, has been calling me to go walkabout more often than I feel the urge to write; the poem I finished has been the only compelling urge I’ve felt, & it’s done, so, I may find myself out in the BBR a lot, soaking up more experience to pour into the hopper of my mind, where it can, and will, take its own sweet time to find a way out, back into the light. When it happens, I’ll be back; I’d estimate two to three days. Until then, be well, be happy as you may, and stay alert. The fires may go out, but, the lightning can still strike, when and wherever it pleases…. See 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

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Ă€ bientĂ´t, mon cherĂ­….


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Bring it on, bozo….

Ffolkes,

“Always obey your superiors–if you have any.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

jan-1-2017-007

The road, after stopping, goes ever on….

Hajime…. As one whose life and experience has left him with a number of opinions and beliefs uncommon to the major portion of humanity, I tend to regard the current crop of holidays with a large dollop of skepticism, as being more accurately defined as distractions, designed to keep the ignorant mundanes busy chasing illusions & dreams, spending money they can ill afford to spend on frivolity, to join in what is purported to be a celebration of new possibilities, presented to them in shiny, colorful packages of short duration, which will keep them busy and happy doing exactly what they cannot afford to be doing….

But, that’s just me; everybody else takes it as a chance to drown the sorrows of the past year, in hopes the next will be different, though they will make no particular effort to make any changes in themselves, this being the only thing that might produce changes in the lives they lead… or, more accurately, are led through, by the nose… an organ which, if properly employed, COULD be a valuable tool for them, in sniffing out the lies and illusions they so readily adopt as their own… Then again, I don’t suppose it’s easy to alter a lifetime habit of NOT using their innate abilities in ways that might help them, having been trained since birth to deny they even have them….

Ah, well, so passes another year, in a fashion arbitrarily decided upon by the narcissistic sociopaths who manipulate our society on Earth for their own benefit, to their own purposes, at the expense of all those mundanes who refuse to consider their own ignorance a handicap, thus handing control of their minds to the unscrupulous scoundrels, who possess no humanity, and no concern over the consequences of their actions upon anyone, or anything other than themselves. But, it’s their lives, and, if they want to spend them as a mental slave to delusions fostered upon them by clever assholes, well, that’s their choice…. The problem is, they don’t realize it IS their choice, having been convinced at an early age to surrender their right to choose… In my mind, this is what makes a human being, and NOBODY is going to take my choices from me…

I really didn’t intend to rant first thing this year, but, what the hell? Why not, eh? And, now, I’m done, & we can move on to something less disturbing to anyone’s sense of guilt or regrets. Hopefully, anyway. Why don’t I use this old trick, so we can do that without further delay?…. Watch this….

Shall we Pearl?

“The greatest sin is to be unconscious.”

~~ Carl Jung ~~

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george-harrison-03

Since it’s a new year, why not start it out with some of the best music I know? In my experience, it doesn’t get much better than what came out of this event in 2002, when a great many of the world’s best musicians got together to pay tribute to another of their peers, one who left an indelible mark on the world, in more ways than merely artistically…. Enjoy, if you will, Ravi Shankar, his daughter, and a fine Indian orchestra, who join some of the biggest names in entertainment for a tribute to George Harrison…

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Concert for George
2002

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Comedy_Tragedy

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/11/2012

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Basic lessons in living large….

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“The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.”

~~ Keanu Reeves ~~

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“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment
to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

~~ Charles DuBois ~~

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“Is dishwater dull?
Naturalists with microscopes have told me
it teems with quiet fun.”

~~ “The Spice of Life” — The Listener (1936)

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“Entropy requires no maintenance.”

~~ Amanda Walker ~~

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“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.”

~~ Jules de Gaultier ~~

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“Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.”

~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~

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“How can you be two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all?”

~~ Firesign Theater ~~

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“The world is full of cactus, but we don’t have to sit on it.”

~~ Will Foley ~~

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“Most of all, I’ve learned that
a good time to laugh is anytime you can.”

~~ Linda Ellerbee ~~

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I am suffused with a sense of accomplishment, not without a certain degree of pride; it’s done, and done pretty well, all things considered, (a list which includes some standard confusion, cat-hammock duties, and, a demon or two, as well as a number of picayune PITA’s of no particular value…), for which I can be grateful to my own stubborn nature. I believe I’ll start the year off right, & leave it at that, so as to make at least one effort to change something in the new year…. I doubt seriously my nose will grow less round, or less red, and, it certainly won’t quit honking, so, don’t worry. Normality, while not encouraged, always seems to find its way into our lives, like it, or not. Around here, it’s mostly not, but, we’ll see how it goes tomorrow, when I’ll try this again…. See ya, ffolkes; stay alert, it’s getting pretty strange out there….

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

Ă€ bientĂ´t, mon cherĂ­….