Ffolkes,
Bastard rhymes are jostling for precedence in order in my head, just to make me mad. They do this periodically, and I think it’s just because they are jealous of free verse, and all it implies. Normally I just offer them some cold cereal, and they’ll slink away, but they look a bit more committed this morning. I suppose I will have to break down and give them cheese. I hate to do that, mostly because they’ll want it next time. But also because I hate to share my cheese, with anything, much less a bastard rhyme….
Maybe I’ll try a new method….ignoring them works well with standard problems; it’s like King Ralph I said back in 1990, “There’s no problem so big or complicated it can’t be ignored. Now all we need are all-new globes.” Yeah, that sounds right…..we’ll go with that, and if they complain, so much the better. Nothing I like more than pissing off bastard rhymes in the morning….. shall we dance?…..
___________________________________
“If you can set the rules, you can win the game.” — John McCormack
Finding this pearl brought me a small sense of relief; I wasn’t sure if this was common knowledge or not, and didn’t want to spoil a good survival tool. But since it’s commonly available, I can use it without guilt, because it won’t make the playing field any less even if I do, as others have the same option.
This is a tool? you may ask….yes, I would answer, it is. How often in life have you found yourself somehow involved in a game or system not of your own choosing, and floundering around ineffectively because of it? If you’re anything like me, and I’m not THAT weird, it happens regularly, if not frequently. Somebody is always trying to set us up somehow, and gain some kind of arbitrary advantage, by making us conform to rules we don’t even know.
But now that you know this, you should be able to see how powerful a tool this really is. No longer do you have to put up with someone else’s idea of what is fair; if you find yourself in a position of losing out, then just change the rules of the game to suit your own purposes. This has the immediate effect of placing the controls of the situation back in your hands.
Using this tool, you will never have to face disappointed loved ones, or friends, just because you failed at a task they felt you should succeed at; instead you emerge victorious, with reputation intact, all by using a simple, easy-to-use skill. It’s how James T. Kirk became the first cadet to solve the supposedly unsolvable Kobeashi Maru scenario, and it is how you can regain control of a lot of situations in life that previously gave you fits….. Not a bad find for a Thursday, eh?…..
___________________________________
Books are burning
In the main square, and I saw there
The fire eating the text.
Books are burning
In the still air
And you know where they burn books
People are next.
— “Books Are Burning”, XTC
When I first read this, an image immediately came to mind, a picture of some backwoods preacher in a tent somewhere, haranguing the local populace his own brand of ignorance, a pile of library books burning merrily in front of the stage where he preaches. (Have you noticed? All these zealots are men. You never see women doing this sort of thing…) I then realized that behind that image was a real-life danger of seeing this happen here in this country, if people like this Rick Santorum idiot have their way.
For weeks now, this bozo, who has no idea his nose is big, red, and bulbous, has been spouting nonsense that he thinks will appeal to a large number of conservatives, getting more and more outrageous each time he opens up his mouth. I saw yesterday that now he claims that as President, he would “unmarry” all the gay folks who have already been wed. What a ridiculous concept! And what business of the federal government’s is it who marries whom? And who asked him, anyway?
This clown, er, wait, that’s an insult to clowns. This fucking idiot (there, now I feel better…) has also made it clear that if he were elected (fat chance of that, fortunately) he would send all illegal immigrants back to where they came from, and he would make it a criminal offense to either get an abortion, or, get this, to become pregnant without being married! I only have one rational response to such idiocy and that is, “Sod off, you buggering idiot. Who the fuck told you that you have any right at all to tell a woman what to do with her own body? Oh, God told you? Well, now at least we can get you some medication for your condition….”
But, what I find scariest in all this man’s demagoguery is that he actually has supporters, people who feel the same way, even some women. I despair for these people, for they are in danger as well. Their danger stems from the fact that this man will lead them right into the fiery depths of their own version of hell, since most of what he spouts is directly opposed what is in the Bible. At least none of this was mentioned in any of the several different versions I’ve delved into over my lifetime. I suppose, in order to be fair, and to live up to my belief in free speech, we have to let him speak…. but we certainly don’t have to listen…..
Silence is the only acceptable substitute for brilliance.– our old friend, Anonymous
___________________________________
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life ‘s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth
— Act v, Sc. 5
I’ve mentioned before that Will isn’t one of my favorites in historical literature; but I also acknowledged that he is indeed one of the greatest wordsmiths of all time. This is an example of what I mean by that. A lot of his poetry, to me, seems overblown, more convoluted than it needs to be; this passage belies that belief. It’s beautifully put together, and a worthy expression of the concept it portrays. I’m going to leave it at that; some things just don’t need my help to be interesting…….
And here is an example of Will speaking from the other side of the coin…..just not very good, I’m afraid….
If I do prove her haggard,
Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings,
I ‘d whistle her off and let her down the wind,
To prey at fortune.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello
— Act iii, Sc. 3
___________________________________
All things dull and ugly, All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty, The Lord God made the lot;
Each little snake that poisons, Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom, He made their horrid wings.
All things sick and cancerous, All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous, The Lord God made them all.
Each nasty little hornet, Each beastly little squid.
Who made the spikey urchin? Who made the sharks? He did.
All things scabbed and ulcerous, All pox both great and small.
Putrid, foul and gangrenous, The Lord God made them all.
— Monty Python’s Flying Circus
An unusual sentiment, but perfectly true, if one takes the concept of God at face value. It’s a perfect example of how a good idea taken to its logical extreme becomes ridiculous, and thus exposes its very real flaws. A lot of folks may take this the wrong way, and cry “Blasphemer!”, but hey, I didn’t write it; I just found it and shared it. Let’s not go back to the distant past when the messenger got shot for delivering bad news.
I have showed these folks above how to deal with what they believe to be a rigged game; just change the rules. But, sadly for most of them, they have adhered so long to the same old set of outmoded rules of conduct that they have lost the flexibility needed to enhance one’s chances of survival, rather than reducing them. As for me, well, I figure it’s a personal problem, and of little interest to me, other than to mark that spot on the map as not worth visiting……
___________________________________
“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
— Meditations, vi, 21
I like this for a number of reasons, but the foremost is for its relevance to my own life. I have long considered myself to be a seeker of truth, and have known all that time that flexibility in thinking is the most important attribute of the true seeker. In simpler terms, in order to learn the truth, one must first admit to not knowing it; therefore, it is essential to the process to be able to accept from others their own version of truth. Only thus can those differing values be compared to what we hold to be true, thereby providing us with solid evidence for whichever truth we are seeking.
We are not born knowing what is true and what is not; only experience can teach us, and one can only be certain of reaching those truths if all of the available evidence has been reviewed. This is the only insurance we have against making ignorant decisions about important issues; the only other option is to remain ignorant, a state of anathema for a true seeker……
___________________________________
Well, I finally made it. It’s been a long winding road to get here, not too much uphill, but lengthy. I think maybe I write so much each morning in order to keep from jumping into the day too far without preparation; if nothing else, this process does clear out my head to a degree not possible over the course of the day without having used it. It’s kind of like that nasty phlegm one gets with a bad cold, you know? Better out than in….. in any case, y’all take care out there…..
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 